MICHAEL Woods is on his way out of Hartlepool United. The midfielder was left out of the squad from this afternoon’s 3-1 humbling by Barnet.

And boss Matthew Bates confirmed Woods is in talks with another club – understood to be Harrogate Town – with a deal to take place this week.

Bates admitted: “Woodsy wasn’t in the squad, he’s in discussions with another team. He asked in the summer if he could leave, but we worked with him.

"Something has come up and it’s not fair to have him in when something is going on. It could happen this week.’’

Pools took the lead against Barnet through Peter Kioso, but conceded two goals in a minute – the second down to a Kioso mistake – before a Myles Anderson slip in injury time allowed the visitors in for a third.

Bates admitted: “We were our own worst enemy at times. We conceded two soft goals, the second one was horrendous really and our willingness to run and want to the ball went from there.

“We tried to get them back in at half time and go again, but we huffed and puffed.’’