RYAN Donaldson yesterday completed a loan move from Newcastle United to Hartlepool United and is in line for an instant debut tonight.

The attacker has signed for an initial month and will face Notts County at Victoria Park, when Pools are out to end a five-game winless streak and a run of 381 minutes without a goal.

The England youth international has six Newcastle appearances to his name, and has just returned to action from a knee injury.

For England Under-17s, the 19-year-old netted ten goals in 15 games and last summer played for the Under-19s in the European Championships.

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew said: "Ryan was unlucky enough to get injured the day before I walked through the door and going to Hartlepool means we can closely follow his progress.''

Mick Wadsworth admitted: "We are looking for a striker who can fit into the way we play and Ryan fits the bill.

"Hopefully, he can add to what we already have at the club. What we haven't been doing is putting the ball in the net so hopefully he can help us.''

With James Brown still affected by a bug, he didn't travel to Peterborough at the weekend, Donaldson could be the lone striker this evening, with Andy Monkhouse reverting to the flank.

And, after not winning a game since New Year's Day, Pools are desperate to get back on track against Paul Ince's side who beat them 3-0 at Meadow Lane on January 3 to trigger their winless run.

"Saturday was one of those days and we have to pick ourselves up and go again on Tuesday,'' said Wadsworth.

"Players have to pick themselves up and this is a test of character, personality, manhood and masculinity.

"You have to get over disappointment and deal with it. In football it's highlighted when a week of work came down to seven minutes - the rest of the week was pretty good but for seven minutes we were absolutely crap.

"It's like a dagger to the heart when you win one week and it's fantastic feeling but it nowhere equates to the despair of losing - but that's the unfairness of sport.

"The peaks of a victory are nowhere near as high as the depths of despondency when you lose - but that's the game and that's why we're in it, that's the drug.

"There's nothing we can do about Saturday now. The comebackability of this group of players has been very good"