Chris Turner has revealed that James Brown will not be risked in tonight's pre season friendly with Sheffield Wednesday at Victoria Park (7.30pm kick-off).

The young star has not played since last November when he ruptured his cruciate ligament during a home game with Bristol Rovers.

But the 22-year-old has worked hard to regain his fitness in time for the new campaign and Turner does not want to endanger his recuperation by rushing him back too soon.

"James has got the all-clear but we just want to be 100% certain with his rehabilitation," Turner explained.

"He's trained most of pre season and joined in all the work we did in Holland but our Physio James Haycock is keen for him to have three solid weeks of training.

"Obviously James is frustrated because to have two similar injuries so early and close together in your career is tough to take.

"But the good thing is, he's a young man who has time on his side."

And when Brown finally does pull on the Pools shirt again, Turner is tipping the talented youngster to come back even stronger.

"He's utilised the time he has been out very well and worked hard on his upper-body strength," he told us.

"Physically, he's a lot stronger and that can only help when he does return to the action.

"He may take a little while to get the consistency back in his game, but we can't expect him to be on fire straight away.

"We'll ease him back in and hopefully we'll soon be seeing James at his very best again," he added.

Denis Behan is waiting to see if international clearance comes through before finding out whether he can take part in the game tonight, though fellow new signings Adam Boyd, Neil Austin, Leon McSweeney, Peter Hartley, Scott Flinders and Jon-Andre Fredriksen are all expected to be involved.

Wednesday have recruited former Pools star Tommy Miller during the summer, though he is set to miss out on a return to The Vic due to a thigh injury.

Click here for ticket details on tonight's game at Victoria Park.