New Hartlepool United midfielder Nathan Sheron is hoping he can build on a solid spell with Oldham Athletic after becoming Darren Sarll's third signing of the summer.

The versatile 26-year-old, who joins for an undisclosed fee, was a regular in the Oldham side during his two years in Greater Manchester, playing 91 times.

Sheron managed an impressive 45 appearances last term, scoring a career-best six goals, and Sarll will be hoping he can produce a similarly consistent campaign in a Pools shirt.

By contrast the Pools midfield was ravaged by injuries - Kieran Wallace, Anthony Mancini and Callum Cooke all missed sizeable spells of the season, with Mancini limited to just 14 appearances, Wallace to 21 and Cooke to 36.

The midfielder managed 89 league appearances across two consistent campaigns with National League rivals Oldham.

placeholder image — The midfielder managed 89 league appearances across two consistent campaigns with National League rivals Oldham.

Nicky Featherstone, who was ever-present following his return in October, and Tom Crawford fared better on the injury front but Crawford has since been released, while Featherstone turns 36 in September and is set to take at least something of a step back from playing after signing a new player-coach contract.

With Pools looking like they'll have a relatively thin squad next season - indeed, Sarll admitted at his maiden press conference that he prefers working with smaller squads - it'll be important that his new recruits are robust enough to play 40-odd games next term.

In that sense, Sarll looks to have made a strong start.

Sheron, together with fellow new signing Jack Hunter, played a combined 89 games last season, both for sides that finished in the National League's top 10; across the last two campaigns, the pair amassed an impressive 170 appearances between them.

Reliability and robustness are watchwords for Sarll, so Sheron will be eager to achieve similar numbers next season.

And the new recruit, who came through the ranks at Liverpool and gained Football League experience with Fleetwood, Walsall and Harrogate, is hoping he can kick on at Pools.

"Over the last two years I've really enjoyed my time at Oldham," he told the club website.

"I've been lucky enough to play the majority of the games.

"I just want to build on that again, I want to do the same again this year and keep building consistency and bring that here.

"Hopefully we have a good season this year and kick on."