Ground: Victoria Park
Capacity: 7,229
Last season: 22nd
Manager: Chris Turner
Ins: Chris Perkins midfielder from Chesterfield, free; Kevin Henderson striker from Burnley, free.
Outs: Paul Baker striker to Scarborough on trial; Peter Beardsley striker released (coaching England Under-16s); Stuart Brightwell midfielder released.
Chances: If teams prosper in attack it is more often than not when they have two good strikers to call upon. Hartlepool will be hoping that rule continues over the coming nine months. The club paid out more than £150,000 in the dying embers of last season on strikers Chris Freestone from Northampton and Gary Jones from Notts County. Now the plunder pair are to be unleashed on basement defences from the outset charged with getting the goals to justify a positive mood at Victoria Park from where veterans Peter Beardsley and Paul Baker have been jettisoned. Should Norwegian international Ove Pedersen complete his trial spell to link up with the 'Pool then the Freestone-Jones axis will get plenty of ammunition.
One to watch: Tommy Miller. Midfield find who has come through the ranks with a bang - seven goals last season when he was troubled with a groin injury. The next 'big fish' in the 'Pool.
Title odds: 66-1.
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