"It's always an excitable day the first day of pre season when the players get back off their summer break," Chris Turner said this morning at the training ground.

"Modern footballer's today keep themselves fit so it's not as hard to get them back into shape as it used to be when you had to get them to lose a stone or so.

"We need to make sure we use this time well to get the players ready for the off."

And Turner revealed that there was almost another new face ready to meet his new teammates this morning until a last-minute hitch stalled the deal,

"We had a left back virtually signed up until late last night but that has fallen through now and we're already looking at our options.

"But we have got two or three more players who we are looking at to try and bring into the Club so we will be looking to operate with a 21/22 man squad - so any movement out of the Club opens up our options to bring people in.

"We need strength and competition for places in this squad and it is important we work to get that."

Looking ahead to the new season and Turner is under no illusions as to the task in hand for Pools,

"This is the strongest division that Hartlepool United will ever have played in in terms of the size of the clubs we'll be pitting our wits against.

"And then you have the likes of Huddersfield Town who are putting big bids in for numerous players.

"A lot of big clubs who have come into this division have found it tough in their first division so no-one knows what is going to happen this season.

"Smaller clubs like to play against those so-called big clubs and will go out wanting to put on a show."