RICHARD MONEY admits he wasn’t going to stand in Andrew Davies way after Hartlepool United’s captain asked the leave the club.

And the Pools boss has also lost another key player for the next few weeks, with Liam Noble sidelined with a calf injury.

Noble has had a scan on the problem he picked up at Gateshead on Boxing Day and will be out for four to six weeks.

Davies signed in the summer but had his contract cancelled this week, with a return to Scotland confirmed after he today signed an 18-month deal with Dundee in the SPL.

A return home to the North-East was a major factor in Davies moving from Ross County during the close season.

But he has missed more games than he has played through a combination of injury and suspension.

His last game was at Gateshead on Boxing Day.

Speaking at his press conference on Thursday morning, Money revealed: “It was purely a personal decision from Andrew. He came to us before Christmas and said he wasn’t happy and it wasn’t working out for him.

“And I want supporters to understand that in normal circumstances the club holds the cards and the alternative was for him to stay.

“From my experience at other clubs, I’ve seen clubs picking up the pieces and in Luton’s case a club spending too much money when I had to make some decisions on some popular players and keep the dressing room happy.

“At Cambridge we knew what we wanted to do without getting it out there because of financial difficult and some people felt there was no future there so we let them go.’’

Money added: “The reason was we were already planning for next season. We wanted people who were genuinely committed to what we wanted to do and I’m not saying Andrew wasn’t.

“We had a real genuine and open discussion and he felt he wanted to go and play somewhere else.

“We decided to let him go.

“He is an experienced player but I’m not from the area so I don’t know Andrew Davies the Middlesbrough player, or the player who everyone thought he might be here.

“I tried to sign him when I was at Walsall so I know about him.

“I understand his reasoning and it hasn’t worked out here how he wanted.

“He wants to play at a higher level and he is coming to the end of his career. There’s more negatives than positives in digging my heels in which wouldn’t be in the interests of anyone.’’

Noble will be out for up to six weeks with a calf problem he has been playing with over the Christmas period.

Money said: “Noble has picked up a calf injury and he felt it at Gateshead when I felt he might come off.

“He felt it in the warm up and played and come through the last few games, but it’s got progressively worse. He was scanned on Tuesday and he could be four to six weeks out.’’