LUKE Hendrie is returning to Hartlepool to get the first-team action he has been missing at Valley Parade.

Hendrie has gone back to Pools on a season-long loan - the club he left to sign for the Bantams on January deadline day in 2022.

Hartlepool boss John Askey has been in urgent need of a right back to replace Dan Dodds, who suffered a season-ending ACL injury against Fylde last Saturday.

Hendrie has played 22 times in his second spell with City but after a regular run in the side at first has found opportunities limited.

The 29-year-old played only five games last season, three of them in the Football League Trophy, and was injured in his last outing at Swindon.

Hendrie has played once so far in the new campaign when he came off the bench against Accrington in the Carabao Cup first round.