JEFF STELLING admits his nerves are shredded as a Hartlepool United fan.

The Sky Sports presenter is about to embark on his latest epic challenge in aid of prostate cancer.

He’s walking from St James’ Park in Exeter to St James’ Park in Newcastle in the space of 15 days.

And while his team won’t be playing at the Tyneside version in the near future, he desperately hopes to be able to follow Pools in Devon next season as a Football League club.

Pools are once again embroiled in a relegation scrap and Stelling admitted: “It’s nerve-wracking, we have all been there before and we all hoped we wouldn’t be there again.

“I remember the optimism at the start of the season under Craig Hignett, which disappeared pretty quick over the course of time.

“Now it’s turned into a familiar story – get to the end of the season and make sure you’ve got two sides below you who are worse than you and then start again – it’s as simple as that and it tends to be the case every season.

“I think we are lucky that there are a couple of other sides down there, with all due respect, who are worse than us.

“I think we will be safe, but we have a threadbare squad, incredibly young….hey, you know how it is.’’

Stelling, also the club’s vice-president, is more often than not unable to get to games. He does, of course, work each Saturday.

Last month, however, he did enjoy a welcome home win.

“I was at the Crewe game the other week so I saw the good and the bad,’’ he mused.

“It turned out well, but for 44 minutes we were very much second-best, and edgy, nervous. We got a goal with our only first-half shot on target and it all changed.

“In the last half hour we looked a really good side.

“We do have some talented players. Brad Walker has been playing centre-half and that night he was magnificent.

“Scotty Harrison has done well alongside him. Nathan Thomas is always a threat, yes he is in and out of games, but he’s a winger and that’s what you get.

“Nicky Featherstone gives you quality virtually every week.

“The problem is that when you go past the first 11 or 12 then we lack quality and we are desperately scratching around.’’

It’s an issue boss Dave Jones has long lamented since his appointment.

Jones has been there and done it in the football world.

Having someone like that at Pools should be a big boon. Results have not matched his plans and ambitions yet.

“Dave Jones has come in and he’s a big name,’’ said Stelling. “And not being detrimental to Dave at all, but I look at some of the managers who have done well this season.

“How about Darrell Sarll at Stevenage? To be brutally honest I had never heard of him, never heard of him at all.

“He’s done fantastic in what he’s done and he’s not alone in that sense.

“But look at Dave’s track record and it is magnificent.

“Managing at this level will present him with very different issues to what he has had in the rest of his career.

“I think having spoken to him, I see it’s about getting his message across to the players.

“This is what he demands, these are the standards he demands and all that goes with it.

“It’s good for us to attract a manager like him to the club, he is so well respected in the game.

“The big thing is that everyone looks at his record and we have to put our faith in him, give him time to turn the club around and a chance to see what he can do this summer in terms of using his name and contacts and eye for a player to get the right people in.

“He needs that time and let’s get this season out of the way first and make sure we are still a Football League club next season.’’

You can join Stelling and Co on legs of the walk.

The North-East legs are on Wednesday, June 14 (Harrogate to Bedale), Thursday, June 15 (Darlington to Hartlepool via Middlesbrough) and Friday, June 16 (Durham Riverside to the Stadium of Light and onto St James’ Park). Each day starts around 8am and involves around ten hours walking.

To sign up there’s a £25 registration fee and walkers must raise at least £300 for prostate cancer.

Visit prostatecanceruk.org for full details.