Humphreys Stay Will Be Short

Hartlepool United boss Danny Wilson looks unlikely to allow Ritchie Humphreys to stay with Port Vale longer than his initial one month loan.

Speaking to the Northern Echo Wilson commented:

‘It’s important he gets games and we want him fit and ready for when he comes back to us. The games will sharpen him up and we don’t have a reserve game for a while, which doesn’t help anyone’s cause.

The door is not shut for him here, it’s wide open. I just feel at this moment in time that he’s not going to be in the starting line-up and we want to keep him sharp. He will come back to us after four games ready to go.’

There have been rumours circulating that Humphreys was unhappy at being dropped for the Burnley and Hereford games and his reaction was not the greatest, perhaps a loan move to Port Vale has been arranged to ‘do a Boydie’ and refocus Mr Humphreys.

Is there still a role for Ritchie at Victoria Park though? With Garry Liddle performing well at left back against MK Dons the defence now appears to be sorted, the centre midfield pairing of Boland and Sweeney looks set for an extended run of games which means Humphreys only possible role is left wing. Whilst he is away with Port Vale Matty Robson has a chance to make that position his own, or he could make the recall of Humphreys a priority of course!

One final point to ponder, Humphreys is off the wage bill for four weeks, this could enable Danny Wilson to dip into the loan market and bring in a big name player, a striker, a goalscorer, please!