Craig Hignett has confirmed that Luke Williams will be in his matchday squad for the first time this pre-season when Pools host Sheffield United Under-23s on Saturday (3pm kick-off).
The midfielder has been recovering from two operations required to fix a knee problem which kept him sidelined for the entirety of the 2018/19 campaign.
Despite his return to training at the start of pre-season, Hignett and his medical staff have been careful with the talented midfielder during the warm-up campaign and kept him out of the firing line.
However, the time has now come for the former Middlesbrough star to step up his workload and so fans can expect to see him on the pitch for the first time against The Blades.
“Luke will be involved tomorrow,” Hignett told us.
“We will look to get some minutes in to him on the pitch because he's looked really sharp so now he just needs those games.
“He's had a bit of contact this week and he's come through it all really well – he's been champing at the bit anyway so he will get some minutes on Saturday.”