HARTLEPOOL United's latest recruit Will Goodwin got his loan stint with the club underway with a bang and he's hopeful of building on his good start.

Goodwin, 19, signed on loan from Championship side Stoke City last week and was thrown straight into the starting line-up for Saturday's trip to Barrow.

Pools lost the game 3-2 at Holker Street but on his professional debut, the striker got on the scoresheet bringing the scoreline level in the second half.

The teenager spoke exclusively to the Northern Echo and said that Pools are a right fit for him to cut his teeth in professional football.

Goodwin said: “It was good for me and the club for me to go out on loan and get some men’s games under my belt. Get the experience there and Hartlepool was a great option for me in all sorts of ways really.

“I think there was a few (other clubs) but Hartlepool was always one, the one that me and the club wanted me to go to. The conversations we had were about Hartlepool so it was always going to be here.

“I knew the gaffer (Dave Challinor) before. I’d had a few conversations with Stoke about what the best thing would be and they said Hartlepool would be a great option and I already knew the gaffer like I said so I was happy that it was them (Stoke) saying that as well.

“I think our families know each other and I met him through my youth team manager at Chester (Calum McIntyre) so they were good friends, my gaffer and Dave so he used to come watch a few of our games.

“It helped a lot settling in. When I moved, I spoke to him as I was here. It was really easy to settle in and become part of the squad.

With Pools striking duo Olufela Olomola and Mark Cullen struggling for fitness at the weekend just gone, Goodwin was handed his place in the starting eleven and he recalled the memorable moment he found out he'd be starting.

“When I’d seen the team come out and looked at the sheet with the first eleven on it, I saw my name and I was buzzing. I just feel like this is my time now to push on and do well in this league.

"It would be brilliant for me to go back to Stoke and hopefully have scored a lot of goals and played a lot of minutes.

"You can’t buy experience so get that experience under my belt at 19 and hopefully push on when I go back to Stoke.

“I feel like it was a strikers finish, it was a number nine’s finish. Just in and around the box, one touch finish and put it away. It was definitely a really special moment for me to score on my debut and for it to be my first professional goal, it meant a lot.

“I think I did okay. I didn’t feel out of place at all. I feel like I put myself about. I didn’t look at their centre halves or anyone else on the pitch and think like ‘he’s more experienced than me, he’s stronger than me, he’s quicker than me’, I didn’t think anything like that.

"I just went into the game and thought I’m going to do me and see what happens and I feel like I’ve done alright.

Pools return to action at the weekend when they face Walsall at Victoria Park where there is every possibility Goodwin could be involved in the starting line-up again.