South Shields welcome Hartlepool III to Brinkburn this weekend. With the league campaign edging ever closer, Shields will be looking to continue building momentum as pre-season reaches its crucial stages.

The hosts are still searching for their first victory of pre-season, but the results are very much secondary at this stage of the preparations. Performance, effort and continued improvement remain the key priorities as the squad looks to sharpen up ahead of the competitive fixtures to come.

Saturday provides another valuable opportunity for the players to put their work on the training ground into practice, with everyone pushing for places and looking to stake their claim before the league campaign gets underway.

Standing in their way are Hartlepool III, who are always a tough and competitive opponent. Shields know they will have to match the visitors' physicality, intensity and work rate if they are to get the result they are looking for.

With the start of the league season now firmly on the horizon, every minute on the pitch counts.

Kick off is 3pm at Brinkburn tomorrow.