Simon Grayson reveals extent of injuries to Brad Walker and Luke Charman after pair miss pre-season clash
Hartlepool United manager Simon Grayson has revealed that both Brad Walker and Luke Charman missed Saturday's pre-season win over Whitby Town after picking up "little knocks" in training.
However, the new Pools boss does not believe either of the injuries are serious and said he expects the pair to return to training this week ahead of Tuesday's trip to Northern Premier League Division One East side Redcar Athletic.
Both Walker and Charman are looking to put recent injury woes behind them ahead of the new National League season, which begins with a long trip to Yeovil on August 9. The versatile Walker, who became the club's first summer signing when he sealed a return to Pools last month, has struggled with various fitness issues over the last few seasons and played just 12 times for League Two Tranmere last term; indeed, Walker hasn't featured in a competitive game since New Year's Day.
Nonetheless, the 29-year-old, who made 123 appearances for Pools at the beginning of his career, looked healthy and strong when he featured in Tuesday's pre-season opener against FC Hartlepool and will be hoping that was a positive sign of good things to come. There have been, of course, understandable fears about Walker's condition after he missed the weekend's trip to picturesque Whitby, although Grayson has moved to assuage those concerns.
Charman, meanwhile, has endured a similarly testing couple of years. His final season at AFC Fylde, during which he caught the eye of Pools' head of football Joe Monks thanks to a blistering performance when the two sides met at Mill Farm in January 2024, was curtailed by injury. Having started the season brightly, Charman suffered a serious injury a fortnight after impressing against Pools and was ruled out for the remainder of the campaign.
Last season, his first for Pools, was a bit stop, start for the versatile forward. The 27-year-old made a promising start to the campaign but was ruled out for a month following a strong challenge by Southend's Cav Miley two weeks into the season and struggled with various issues thereafter, albeit one spell of absence was due to personal reasons following the sudden and tragic death of his best friend and fellow footballer, Michael Newberry.
The coming season promises to be significant for Charman, who is entering the final year of his two-year contract at Victoria Park and still has work to do if he's to win over the majority of Pools fans. Like Walker, Grayson suggested the attacker's injury was nothing serious and that he expected him back in training on Monday.
"We don't think there's anything to worry about," Grayson said.
"Both Brad and Luke got little knocks in training, that can happen, especially in pre-season.
"It's nothing majorly to worry about, it's a case of wear and tear and we aren't looking to take any risks at this stage.
"We're expecting to have them both back in training on Monday."