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Breaking News: Millington Drops Shocking Updates on Billy Waters, Jamie Cooke Suspension, and Major Injury News
Chris Millington hopes new signing Billy Waters will be cleared to make his debut at Hartlepool United on Saturday.
The striker was unable to play in the win at Ebbsfleet last Saturday due to international clearance not being granted in time following his loan move from Wrexham.
But Millington hopes that will be sorted in time for this weekend.
“I hope so, it’s a fairly straightforward process and I’d think the English and Welsh FA would be able to get this type of thing sorted, especially around a transfer window,” he said.
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“There’ll be no shortage of this type of business going on, so it should be fairly easy for them to sort out.
“He’s certainly fit, there’s no two ways about that.
“Match sharpness is something that may be lacking because it’s no secret he’s not played a whole lot of competitive minutes recently.”
Waters was due to play in an in-house game at training yesterday (Tuesday) before taking part in a heavier session on Thursday
Last Saturday’s match-winner Angelo Cappello is a doubt for the Hartlepool game due to a hamstring issue.
“That’s a disappointment, obviously Angelo’s had a fantastic impact in the team,” Millington said.
“Obviously we can’t take any risks with him because it’s been a weakness in the past.”
Cappelo didn’t train on Monday and wasn’t expected to be involved in the in-house game.
“It’s a shame it’s come at this stage but we certainly won’t be taking any risks with him.
“The good news from Saturday is Ryan Galvin played his first minutes of the season and came through fine, and the same with Max Wright.
“He’s obviously missed out on games so far this season but he has come through Saturday well and we can hopefully build on his minutes as well.
“I think both are ready to start, I think both just need to brush up on their match sharpness because they’ve only had that substitute appearance against Ebbsfleet so far this season.
“But fitness wise they’re both ready and the only way they’ll get match sharp is by playing games so they’ll both be available for selection.”
On whether defenders Jo Cummings and Harvey Sutcliffe could be involved, Millington said: “In both cases they’re there or thereabouts.
“Still trying to build up Jo’s fitness to some degree but I think both will be availabe for selection for the bench if needed.”
One player who won’t be playing at Hartlepool is Jamie Cooke, who will serve a one-game ban for his sending off at Ebbsfleet.
“He’s been an ever-present for us so far this season and a lot of Jamie Cooke stands for is a lot of what I like to see in a team – his energy, his work rate, his never-say-die attitude, I think it represents a lot of what is good about Halifax Town,” Millington said.
“So he’s definitely going to be a miss against a team like Hartlepool.
“We’ve obviously got Billy Waters in and around it now, and the staff are telling me there’s one or two murmurings about the lack of minutes Zak Emmerson has got.
“Those who read the articles will be fully aware that’s because he’s playing at the moment with a foot problem, and playing through it.
“That’s the reason he’s maybe not had quite as many minutes as he would have done.
“But also we’ve got to remember he’s a lad who’s just turned 20 and we’re doing what we’ve done with Milli Alli, Jesse Debrah, Kane Thompson-Sommers, Andrew Oluwabori, Flo Hoti and what we’ll continue to do with young players, which is teaching them how to get in the team and how to help themselves stay in the team.
“It won’t be just a straight line of getting in the team and playing every minute, it’s going to take time to get that right.
“But hopefully he’ll be over the foot issue and if he is, then he’ll also be in contention for a start.
“As much as we want Jamie Cooke available, we think there’s enough depth to be able to cover that off.”
