National League North and South suspension stalls potential loans for Hartlepool United pair
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Pools were hoping to loan out summer arrivals Josh MacDonald and Claudio Ofosu this month but the two week suspension of the National League North and South season has put those plans on hold.
There are fears that the sixth tier campaigns will not restart without sufficient financial support provided to clubs while games are taking place behind closed doors.
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Hide AdAfter making the step up from the Southern Premier division, former Royston Town winger Ofosu started the first four games of the National League season for Pools, scoring once. But the 22-year-old hasn’t started a league match since and has been left out of the last six matchday squads entirely.
Meanwhile, MacDonald has found minutes even harder to come by since arriving from Halifax Town. He’s yet to make his National League debut for Hartlepool, being limited to just three cup appearances for the club in four months.
Manager Dave Challinor is keen to get the pair some minutes on the pitch but admitted that their first team chances at Pools could be limited.
"We want players like Claudio and Josh who haven’t played a lot of football to go out and get some games [on loan],” Challinor told The Mail.
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Hide Ad“Josh has had a niggle but he’s trained this week and we ideally wanted to get them some football elsewhere.
"It becomes difficult now that the National League North and South are now suspended for the time being which means that avenue has been closed for us potentially – we’ll just have to be patient and see if anything comes up.”