Hartlepool striker Padraig Amond goes on strike

By Sam Elliott
Hartlepool United are powerless to keep striking striker Padraig Amond at the club, according to manager Craig Harrison.
The Pools have endured a miserable start to life in Non-League football and are without a win in their opening five matches.
But, according to Harrison, want-away Amond refused to play for the club on Saturday – a match they lost 2-0 to Bromley.
The Hartlepool Mail suggest Newport County are favourites for his signature and that Harrison and the player will sit down over the next few days to see if there is a way of resolving the matter.
The manager said: “We can’t do anything more, it is his decision.
“Podge not wanting to play on Saturday didn’t come as a big surprise to me. We have done all we can to keep him at the club.
“He doesn’t want to be here. He handed in a transfer request four or five weeks ago. It was the last step for him to make himself unavailable.
“We bent over backwards to keep him here but now we have to make sure we deal with it.”
League Two side Newport County are keen on the former Grimsby Town attacker, with the 29-year-old expected to move to the Football League before the closing of the transfer window.
Harrison, meanwhile, believes the club’s first victory is just around the corner but knows they have issues to resolve.
“We can’t continue to chase games like we have been,” he told The NLP after Saturday defeat. “But we feel we’re getting closer.”