HARTLEPOOL United's Anth Lormor is ready for a return to action.

The former Newcastle striker, a summer recruit from Mansfield, has been sidelined since the defeat at Rochdale on October 14 after suffering knee trouble.

After recovering from the operation Lormor returned to training yesterday.

"He came through it OK,'' confirmed Pool boss Chris Turner.

"He could be on the bench against Southend on Saturday - to be honest he could have been there at Cardiff but there is no point in rushing him back.''

Norwegian Tim Sperrevik has recovered from back trouble, but Turner warned the pair will not find it easy to displace Kevin Henderson and Craig Midgley.

Henderson netted his eighth of the season in the agonising defeat at Cardiff and Turner admitted: "I was very pleased with them on Saturday. They worked well as a pairing and showed good movement.

"Midge caused them problems all afternoon and Kevin took his goal well. He has scored eight times in 14 starts this season and any striker would be pleased with that.''

Turner, however, was last night still trying to come to terms with Saturday's defeat.

Pool conceded two goals in injury time to go down 3-2 and he admitted: "We played some great football and really deserved to be leading.

"The chairman asked me on Sunday what we can do about it, but it was one of those occasions where things conspire to go against you.

"For 88 minutes I was very pleased with the performance.

"We have lost eight points this season by conceding late goals and when you add them all up we would be almost in the top six.''

l Darlington manager Gary Bennett is "very close" to singing striker Kirk Jackson after completing the signing of his Worksop teammate Adam Marsh yesterday.

Jackson has been tracked for several weeks by Bennett, who made his move after he watched him play for the Unibond League in a representative match last week.

It is understood the clubs have agreed a fee of around £15,000, and Bennett was last night hoping to speak to the player, who started his career at Sheffield Wednesday and has scored 29 goals this season.

"I have been given permission to speak to Kirk and hopefully I'll be able to sort something out in the morning," said Bennett.

Jackson played for Quakers, with Worksop's permission, in a behind- closed-doors friendly against Newcastle a fortnight ago and was on the scoresheet.

"I've got the backing from the chairman," said Bennett. "We've put a lot of work into this deal."

Marsh, 18, has been signed on an 18-month contract. He scored twice in Darlington Reserves' 2-1 win over Wrexham last week.

Bennett said: "We think that he's got talent. He'll come into the squad, so we'll take it from there."

Meanwhile, Quakers are walking a disciplinary tightrope. Paul Heckingbottom will miss the Luton FA Cup tie next week, after reaching five bookings for the season on Saturday with a yellow card at Blackpool, while Neil Aspin is on four yellows along with Craig Liddle after a booking for a foul on Saturday.

Season ticket holders can buy seats for the FA Cup tie against Luton today, and from tomorrow tickets will go on general sale. The match is not all ticket for Darlington fans.

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