One of the most pleasing things to come out of the first day of pre season training for Pools was the fact that James Brown was able to join in with his team mates.

As Chris Turner revealed, Brown is now fit and able to train with the squad for the first time since November last year,

"James Brown is fit now and ready to join in with the First Team squad of players.

"We had two massive losses last season with James and Willie Boland - we had a small squad of players and to lose two key men early on in the season was a big blow.

"We'll be waiting for the Physios to tell us that James is ready for his first game but for now he is training and we expect him to be ready for the first game of the season."

One unexpected new face for the players to get to know on Wednesday morning was Gary Walsh who was brought to the Club to replace George Wood,

"Gary has come in as Goalkeeping Coach which we're all pleased about," Turner revealed.

"It was disappointing that George Wood left but he'd been doing a lot of travelling and now he has moved back closer to Wales. We all wish him well at Swindon.

"And we've moved on now and brought in Gary Walsh, who was an extremely good goalkeeper.

"He is experienced in working with Premier League clubs and I think this is a step forward for the Club."

And while the decision has been made regarding the Goalkeeping Coach for next term, Turner revealed there is still work to be done before a captain will be named,

"Ritchie Humphreys will remain as Club captain but we will look at the decision as to who will be captain on the pitch in the coming weeks.

"What happens out on the pitch will determine who is named captain for next season - it could be someone who I bring in or one of the lads here.

"I want the whole team to play like captains and that is something we will be looking to bring out of them."

And when asked how well he was expecting his team to do next term, Turner refused to be drawn,

"We have set our targets but we won't be making that public. We certainly want to improve on our finish last season but that's as far as we will say.

"I hope the new boys coming in can bring some consistency into the side.

"It can be difficult getting new players to gel together but we'll be working on this and we're hoping that in the first ten matches of the season we can get the team shape and work ethic right to give us a decent start."