New Hartlepool United manager Darren Sarll backs experienced defenders Tom Parkes and Luke Waterfall to play an integral role again next season

Sarll will have been delighted to inherit the two experienced centre-halves, who were two of his new team's best players in the second half of the season.

Prior to their arrival, Pools were inexperienced, uncertain, lightweight, vulnerable at set-pieces and generally unable to deal with balls into their box.

After a succession of unsuccessful loan signings returned to their parent clubs, Pools moved to sign Tom Parkes and Luke Waterfall within a fortnight of one another and the pair transformed the back line.

Both have vast experience, are superb communicators, are brave, strong and good in the air.

Less than two months after their arrival, Pools were celebrating a third successive home clean sheet, having kept just one in the 14 months before that.

Of course, Sarll will still have to address some defensive vulnerabilities - Pools shipped six second half goals in a 7-1 defeat to Gateshead and, given that neither Parkes nor Waterfall are blessed with pace, the new boss will need to add some protection in front of them in midfield.

That said, there's no disputing that Parkes and Waterfall have made a huge difference to the Pools defence in the last five months.

As well as their defensive prowess and dominance in the air, their communication skills have helped their fellow defenders - consider how much the right-sided Waterfall can be seen talking to teenage defender Louis Stephenson - while the fact that Parkes is left-footed and Waterfall right makes them the ideal partnership.

With club captain Nicky Featherstone signing a new deal as a player-coach, which would suggest his gametime might be more limited next term, it would not be a surprise to see one of the two defenders given the armband in his absence.

Sarll has led both Yeovil and Woking to the National League play-offs and both of his successful sides have been built around two strong, solid defenders - the Glovers had Luke Wilkinson and Lee Collins, as well as Gabriel Osho, now of Premier League Luton, while Woking had Scott Cuthbert, Joe McNerny and Wilkinson, who followed Sarll to the Kingfield Stadium.

And, although Sarll might look to add some defensive cover, the new boss will not have to shop around for experienced centre-halves this summer and is backing both Waterfall and Parkes to play an integral role next season.

"My teams, first and foremost, the successful ones, have always had two very, very dominant central-defenders," he said.

"I don't think many would look too far from Luke Waterfall and Tom Parkes.

"They're exactly what we need, dominant, commanding and vocal, and they've already shown just how important they are to this football club."