HARTLEPOOL United have been monitoring the fitness of striker Marcus Carver with the hope he will be fit for this weekend’s game against Stevenage.

The forward was subbed off in the second half of the midweek draw against Carlisle United just a couple of minutes after the restart.

Carver was the club’s first signing in the January transfer window from National League North Southport where he was the division’s third top scorer with 12 goals. He’s yet to get off the mark for Pools in his first two games.

It’s a considerable jump back up for the former Accrington Stanley striker and he is openly admitting he may well be suffering from a lack of match sharpness that is required to compete in the Football League.

Speaking after the goalless draw in Cumbria on Tuesday, manager Graeme Lee said: “From his first game, he just looked a little bit fatigued tonight.

“He lost a little bit of spark. We knew he was a little bit tight after the game. I just hoped he’d have recovered a little bit more so he could have another crack.

“We’ll assess how he goes the next few days ahead of Saturday.

“He’s openly admitted his (had a) lack of training. I think he just played games with no training in between. It was just managing games.

“We need to fully assess him and get him up to speed. At the moment, it’s just games, games for us.

“He’s a great lad. His attitude is right. I thought on Saturday when he was fresh, he had a really good impact on the game.

“Tonight, you could see he just looked a little bit jaded. We’ll get him back in and recovered ready for Saturday.”

Meanwhile, Jamie Sterry is unavailable with one game left on his suspension after a red card in the 2-0 loss to Bristol Rovers last weekend.

Pools go into the game with just one win in their last eleven League Two games. However, their position in the table doesn’t look too threatening at the moment as they sit ten points above the relegation zone in 17th place.

Stevenage, Saturday’s opponents, are two points below them in the table and 20th in the table as things stand.

Lee added: “It’s always nice to get back to the Suit Direct Stadium so looking forward to it.

“Stevenage have had another win so they’ve picked right up, another tough game which every game is but it’s about us and what we can do.”