FC Hartlepool midfielder suffers serious injury

Snowdon missed a large proportion of last season after suffering a broken leg during a Sunday League fixture and he could now spend up to three months on the sidelines after he sustained a broken tibia in Saturday’s 3-3 draw against Northern League club Ryhope CW.

Snowdon currently has a cast covering the injury and is to undergo a further x-ray in the next two weeks to assess its severity.

Loynes confirmed that Snowdon is unlikely to require surgery but explained the club will do all they can to support a player that has been identified as a key figure in their plans for the upcoming Wearside League season.

He told the Mail: “We are gutted for Mike to be honest.

“It’s the same leg he broke last season and he has been flying in training.

“He was outstanding against Ryhope in the first 43 minutes and he was causing them all sorts of problems.

“He was going to be one of our main players and we had a plan of how we would use him.

“He has to got to go back to hospital in a couple of weeks – but the good news is that he doesn’t need surgery.

“Once the x-ray is done, we will know more, but it should be around 12 weeks out.

“We will do all we can to help him.”

The focus switches back towards on-field matters this weekend when Terry Hill’s side face Northern League Division Two club Washington in their latest friendly fixture.

There is some uncertainty over when the competitive action will get underway after the Football Association resubmitted their plans to restart league fixtures across the non-league system.

Hill and Loynes will be hoping to help their side improve on last season as they challenged for a top five place in the Wearside League.

“We have to improve from last season,” explained Loynes.

“The virus has scuppered a lot of plans off the field and we would have been in a better place financially.

“It’s happened, so we will deal with it.”