CHRIS Turner is ready to send out his first choice side in Monday's re-arranged LDV Vans Trophy tie with Scunthorpe.

The Pool boss was planning to give his squad players a chance to impress if the game had gone ahead as planned last Tuesday.

But with Pool idle this afternoon after being knocked out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle, Turner will keep his players in action on Monday night.

Turner had planned a behind-closed-doors friendly with Newcastle at Victoria Park yesterday, but cancelled it on Thursday to protect the pitch when the LDV Trophy tie was rescheduled.

"I had already picked a team for the game last week - but I was going to give the other lads a game against Newcastle to keep them ticking over,'' said Turner.

Turner is likely to field the same side that beat Southend 2-1 at Victoria Park last weekend, the only change being James Sharp coming in for Gary Strodder.

Strodder is suspended for the game at Halifax on Saturday and Sharp will replace him in defence alongside Micky Barron and Chris Westwood.

It's unlikely any game could have took place on the saturated Victoria Park surface this afternoon and Turner has been forced to take training indoors following the downpours of recent days.

"Training has been disrupted and disjointed for a while now,'' said Turner. "The training pitches have been flooded since the last bout of heavy rain and now they are even worse.

"It's frustrating for everyone because we cannot do much indoors and with a lot of players - such as Micky Barron and Anth Lormor - coming back from knee injuries you have to be careful because training on the hard indoor surface is not good for their joints.

"Only the top few clubs are not affected - clubs like Middlesbrough who have good quality indoor facilities.

"But everyone else is in the same boat and it's no good moaning about it, we just have to get on with it.''

Lormor is likely to be handed a place on the bench after recovering from knee trouble and may be in the frame for the Halifax game