Will John Askey continue Hartlepool United's free agent search?

Askey has been in post at the Suit Direct Stadium for two weeks after he was tasked by chairman Raj Singh with ensuring Hartlepool’s League Two survival following the decision to part company with Keith Curle.

Prior to his exit, Curle was given licence to bring in 11 new players in the January transfer window before adding striker Leon Clarke from the free agent market early last month.

Curle had suggested to The Mail he remained keen to explore free agency beyond the signing of Clarke with Hartlepool's schedule easing up from Saturday-Tuesday to allow a greater analysis of potential new recruits.

Curle’s exit may have altered the club’s decision to pursue further free agents between now and the end of the season but new boss Askey has revealed to The Mail that isn’t the case.

“No, we’re still open. We’ve got to continue looking for anybody who becomes available,” he said.

“But as most will be aware, there’s very little about that you would take. But if anybody does become available as a free agent then we’re trying our hardest to find the right person to come in for us.”

Askey is still coming to terms with his new squad of players having earned two points from his first two games in charge.

But should Askey not be able to bring in further additions, the Pools boss will be dictated by the players he has available to him in order to beat the drop.

“Every position is up for grabs. Certain positions we can’t do anything about because we might have injuries or we might not have the competition that we’d like. But everybody who is fit we’ll look at,” said Askey.

“Hopefully a John Askey team is a winning team. But systems and the way that you play are often dependent on what personnel you’ve got.

“You can put things in place and work with players to try and get them fitter and sharper and work on the defensive side of the game or the attacking side of the game but it still very often falls down to the players.”