Bury v Hartlepool preview

admin

Bury will hope Tom Soares can return to contention for Hartlepool’s visit to the JD Stadium.

The midfielder missed last Saturday’s win at Cheltenham with an ankle problem, but boss David Flitcroft revealed he was close to being fit enough to feature and another seven days may have worked in his favour.

Defender Adam El-Abd is nursing a minor hamstring complaint but is due to return either this weekend or next for the promotion-chasing Shakers.

Striker Ryan Lowe (hamstring) is still a fortnight away while centre-back Pablo Mills (groin) has only just started training again.

Hartlepool pair Matthew Bates and Scott Fenwick look set to miss the trip through injury.

Bates has yet to fully recover from the dead leg suffered against Portsmouth a fortnight ago, while Fenwick is struggling with an ankle issue which has hindered him in recent weeks.

A calf injury rules Tommy Miller out of a return to his former club and Stuart Parnaby remains sidelined with a long-term knee problem.

Rock-bottom Pools, who last won away from home on October 11, head into the clash seven points from safety.

Breaking news, transfer gossip, line ups and goal alerts from your football club – delivered direct to your mobile. Sign up for Sky Sports Alerts

Bury v Hartlepool preview

admin

Andy Procter will miss out as Bury bid to emerge from their rut at home to Hartlepool on Tuesday night.

The former Preston midfielder picked up his fifth caution of the season in the 1-1 draw against AFC Wimbledon at the weekend and must now serve an automatic one-game suspension when Pools come to the JD Stadium.

Goalkeeper Rob Lainton, who started the season but has not appeared since the end of August due to a shoulder injury, was among the replacements at the weekend but it remains to be seen whether interim boss Ronnie Jepson prefers him to veteran stopper Brian Jensen.

The Shakers, who placed Jepson in charge until January following the sacking of Kevin Blackwell earlier this season, have won just one game since August and are only two points off the foot of the Football League pyramid.

Hartlepool will be without suspended midfielder, at Bury and striker James Poole is doubtful.

Monkhouse received his fifth booking of the season in Saturday’s home win against Northampton and sits out a one-game ban, while Poole was forced off late in the game due to an ankle injury.

Boss Colin Cooper is hoping Middlesbrough agree to extend midfielder Matty Dolan’s loan spell in time for him to continue, with both Brad Walker and Jonathan Franks providing alternative options.

Cooper will also assess several other players who picked up minor knocks at the weekend as his side chase a seventh win in nine league matches.

Bury v Hartlepool preview

admin

Troy Hewitt is available to make his Bury debut in the basement clash.

Hewitt was snapped up on a month-long loan from QPR by Shakers boss Kevin Blackwell on Monday and will push for two of the starting places in attack along with David Healy, Tom Hopper and Andy Bishop.

Bishop and captain Steven Schumacher shook off respective groin and calf complaints to start Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Yeovil and suffered no adverse reaction.

On-loan Leeds midfielder Zac Thompson is unavailable as he starts a three-game ban.

Having marked his debut against Carlisle six days ago with the opening goal in a 1-1 draw, Thompson blotted his copy book in Somerset with a two-footed lunge on Glovers winger Keanu Marsh-Brown.

Bury are without a win this season and lie bottom of League One on five points, eight from safety and two behind second-bottom Hartlepool.

Hartlepool midfielder Nathan Luscombe could make his first start of the season when Neale Cooper’s side chase their first win in 11 league games.

Luscombe impressed after replacing Ryan Noble for the last 30 minutes in the home defeat to Crawley at the weekend and could be rewarded by under-fire manager Cooper, who has been highly critical of his under-performing players in recent weeks.

Cooper hopes to have skipper Peter Hartley (ankle) and midfielder Paul Murray (calf) available after they missed out at the weekend

Evan Horwood (heel) and strikers Luke James (groin) and on-loan Charlie Wyke, who returned to parent club Middlesbrough last week for treatment on his badly cut ankle, may also return to boost his struggling squad.

Midfielder Andy Monkhouse remains sidelined with the ankle ligament injury that has kept him out of the last four matches.

Bury v Hartlepool preview

admin

Mike Grella is set to make his Bury debut.

Former Leeds striker Grella joined the Shakers until the end of the season on Monday following his release from Brentford earlier this month.

Grella may struggle to nail down a starting berth after another new recruit, on-loan West Brom forward Lateef Elford-Alliyu, pushed his claims with a debut goal from the bench in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Leyton Orient.

Midfielder Giles Coke can return to the Shakers’ midfield after serving a one-match ban at the weekend for his red card at MK Dons last week, but veteran defender Efe Sodje must begin a two-game suspension of his own having picked up his 10th yellow card of the season.

On-loan Sunderland goalkeeper Trevor Carson is expected to retain his place between the posts having returned for a second spell with the club against Orient.

Meanwhile, Hartlepool midfielder Gary Liddle is in a race to be fit for the clash.

Liddle missed Saturday’s thumping 5-0 defeat at Wycombe due to a calf injury and may be given a late fitness test by manager Neale Cooper.

Cooper will be demanding a response from his players after describing them all as “terrible” after their display at Wycombe and could be tempted to make one or two changes.

Strikers Adam Boyd and Colin Nish and defender Jack Baldwin were all second-half substitutes at the weekend and could be recalled to the starting line-up.

But another striker, James Poole, is still not ready to return as he steps up his bid to improve his match fitness following a hamstring injury that has kept him out of action since Boxing Day.

Hartlepool have slipped to 11th place in the table, eight points off the play-offs, after winning only one of their last four league matches.