Cunningham, for whom this will be his third loan spell with Spartans, is a 22-year-old defender who is comfortable in the centre of defence or in a midfield anchor role.

The combative player progressed excellently through the ranks at Hartlepool during his time in the academy.

An ankle problem blighted the third year of his scholarship, but he showed enough promise to have been offered a deal and will be hoping to make big strides in the years to come.

He is unlikely to forget his senior debut having been introduced from the bench against Torquay United in April 2018 only to be shown a harsh red card just sixteen minutes later.

However, he bounced back from that disappointment when he prospered during a loan spell at Blyth in 2018/19 before returning to make a further 6 appearances for Pools, for whom he recently signed a new deal.