Hartlepool United sign Nathan Thomas from Mansfield Town

The exciting winger has signed from Mansfield Town for an undisclosed fee on an 18-month contract.

Thomas came to Ronnie Moore's attention when torturing the Pools defence during Mansfield's 3-1 win when the clubs met at Field Mill in November.

And the 21-year-old's arrival comes at exactly the right time after Moore saw winger Kal Naismith return to Portsmouth.

Moore had hoped to keep Naismith for the rest of the season but the Scot wanted to fight for his place with the promotion chasers.

But Thomas, from Middlesbrough, fits the bill for the Pools, as a good crosser of the ball and a winger who can beat his marker.

He did plenty of that when Pools went down to defeat at Field Mill, the irony being the principal victim of his wing wizardry was friend and former Sunderland youth team colleague, Scott Harrison.

Thomas began his football life at Sunderland before leaving in 2013 to sign for Plymouth Argyle. His first competitive goal came in the Pilgrims' 2–0 victory against Pools in September 2014.

He then had a less-successful move to Motherwell, making only two appearances for the SPL side, before joining Mansfield in the summer.

Thomas made 21 appearances this season, 12 starts and nine from the bench.