AFTER nine months of anguish it took Joel Porter around 30 seconds to get back to normal.

Hartlepool United's Australian striker hadn't kicked a ball all season after damaging a knee in the play-off final last May.

He made his return to action in last Friday's win over Huddersfield and will again be on the bench tonight as Pool go to Scunthorpe looking to maintain their five-game unbeaten stretch under Paul Stephenson.

Porter's comeback couldn't have gone any better.

He instantly linked up with Boyd to create a scoring opportunity, before Boyd's dummy gave Porter the freedom to lift the ball home from 20 yards to secure the 3-1 win.

"It was just good to be part of the 16 again to be honest,'' he said. "It came together quickly and felt normal when I got back out on the pitch and Boydy was there.

"I got the first ball, turned the defender and put Boydy through. It felt like we'd never been away!

"Chris (Llewellyn) put a great ball in, Boydy took the defender out of the way with a dummy and it sat up perfectly. I hit it in the top corner and what a feeling.

"It was all my frustration taken out in one shot. It doesn't make up for the last nine months, but it certainly put a smile on my face.''

Porter won last season's player-of-the-year award as he netted 14 goals.

This season, in the absence of both Porter and Boyd, goals have been hard to come by.

Scoring three last Friday took Pool's tally to just 34 from 35 League One games.

But, with confidence restored at Victoria Park, Pool now have another aim.

"We were saying in the dressing room it's five without loss now and we want to keep it going and make sure we keep our run going at home, where we have five more games to come,'' said Porter.

"Beating someone like Huddersfield sends out a message to the rest of the division - but this is a strange division because every team is capable of taking points from the others.

"It's not what I wanted to come back into the team in a situation like this, when we are at the wrong end of the table. But at least with players coming back from injury it helps to strengthen the squad and gives the manager options.

"We had a lot of injuries early on and probably didn't have our best team out very much. Now they are clearing up, touch wood, and we can field a strong team.

"We've a choice of players, a choice of the best players and it gives us more of a chance.

"I was expecting to be back just after Christmas, but things didn't go my way after the third operation and I was put back again. But it's nights like Friday which make the wait worth it.''

Pool have already visited Glanford Park this season, when they lost 1-0 in the LDV Vans Trophy.

But Porter believes Brian Laws' side will come up against a new, improved side tonight.

"I think that there is a lot of belief and confidence among the lads,'' he said. "Earlier in the season we couldn't string two results together and confidence was being affected. Now we are scoring goals, our game has improved and confidence is high.

"Winning on a Friday night puts a bit of pressure on the other teams the next day and thankfully it worked like that for us."

* Pool's youth team drew 5-5 with Rotherham on Saturday, with striker James Brown, who suffered cruciate knee ligament damage in pre-season scoring twice. Matty Tymon scored a hat-trick.

Read more about Hartlepool here.