NEALE Cooper is ready to bolster his Hartlepool United squad this week.

Pool spent last week in Holland, where Cooper led his new team for the first time.

And now, after seeing his squad in action, the boss has a better idea of what he needs to improve his squad for their Division Two campaign.

Richard Hope and Paul Robinson will be handed a chance to impress in today's behind-closed-doors friendly with Sunderland after they trained with Pool before the trip to the Netherlands.

Cooper missed out on one target yesterday when defender Lee Briscoe signed for Preston after his release from Burnley. His two summer signings to date, Micky Nelson and Marco Gabbiadini, both impressed on tour last week.

But the Pool boss admitted: "We know what we are looking for and there are areas that need to be looked at.

"I've seen certain things from certain players in the last week or so and everyone got a run out at some stage.

"We took 21 players to Holland and you want to keep the basic shape to the team, but we gave the young boys a run out as well.

"The teams we played last week in Holland were a far better standard than last year's and at times we got a bit of a footballing lesson on Friday.''

Pool meet Sheffield Wednesday at Victoria Park on Saturday, but Chris Turner's visiting side is likely to be a largely second XI before next week taking on Billingham Town and Berwick Rangers.

* Ex-Pool midfielder Tommy Widdrington is likely to move to Oxford.

He played and scored for Ian Atkins' side last week after training with Pool before the Holland trip, but now looks likely to move to the Kassam Stadium.

"I have two or three midfielders in mind who could fit the bill, and Tom has moved to the top of the list," said Atkins.

"When we played against him at Hartlepool he ran the show. He has Premiership experience and people like him are few and far between."

* Paul Stephenson has been appointed youth team coach at Victoria Park.

He will take charge of his side in the SAGE soccer festival at Houghall College, Durham, which kicks-off today.

Pool have been drawn against Scunthorpe, Luton and Derby in the under-19 bracket and meet Scunthorpe at 11am this morning.

Read more about Hartlepool here.