By Albatross
December 19 2005

Time to get the Cotton Wool out and wrap some of our players in it: Hartlepool United's injury list has seen two of it's recent graduates return for an encore. Hugh Robertson managed just one game before picking up an injury in training; Mickey Barron injured his back during Saturday's match. The news that Robertson is likely to be out for a while, so soon after his return, is another blow for Martin Scott that he could well do without. Not only does it reduce his options at left back, but the loss of Robertson's free kick ability robs him of a major attacking weapon that Pools currently look badly in need of.

Without Robertson, our options at left back reduce to Humphreys (who has done a reasonable job there to be fair), Brackstone, and the returning to fitness Matty Robson - who is better going forward than defending. If Humphreys continues as a defender, then it reduces our options in midfield - and we certainly looked short on ideas in the final third, with possibly our best attack in the second half coming when Humphreys got forward to get in a good cross that sadly didn't find a Pools head.

It's another headache for Scott to add to the others he has at the moment - particularly the departure of McDonald following the completion of his loan spell. In addition to the long-term injuries to Boyd, Porter and Brown, there's been no sign of Bullock for several games (due to a thigh injury, although he's now also injured his wrist), Eifion Williams has missed a couple of games after a foot injury, while Proctor also seems to be out of the picture at the moment. It looks likely that we're going to have Llewellyn and Daly up front on Boxing Day unless Eifion recovers, and with creativity also at a premium we'll have to hope that Butler has a better game than he did on Saturday to get much in the way of goalscoring opportunities.

At the moment there's no news on how Mickey Barron is; he pulled a muscle in his back on Saturday and is due to be assessed by the Pools medical team. With Tinkler having missed the last couple of games with a calf injury, Physio Gordon Ellis must have a pretty busy time of it at the moment! With no game until Boxing Day, the hope has to be that the aching limbs of those players on the injured list will have a chance to recover in time to play a part in the Christmas Programme - the results of which could be crucial for the direction of our season.