Grezza lends a hand at Pool, could he be set to join the staff?

Alexander joined his old pal Neil McDonald on the training ground ahead of Pool’s 1-0 win over Wigan, but the Seasiders boss insists he was there simply as a guest.

The former Scotland full-back was again seen at Pool’s Squires Gate base last week and at their match against Wigan on Saturday, but McDonald was quick to dispel rumours that Alexander is to be offered a job on his coaching staff.

Alexander is out of work, having been sacked by Town in September after close to three years at the Highbury helm, and has recently spent time with Southampton and clubs in Spain to see how they operate.

He was spotted at the Squires Gate training ground twice last week and was in the stands at the DW Stadium on Saturday.

McDonald explained: “Graham is a very good friend of mine and he wanted to come in and see how we work.

“We worked for a couple of days at the end of last week with him watching our training. He wanted to come to the game on Saturday. Having seen us work on the game plan, he wanted to see how it played out on Saturday.

“He will give us a bit of feedback on his thoughts, which is great.”

But McDonald insists their short-term association has already come to an end.

He said: “We aren’t bringing him to the club or anything like that.

“He’s been to Southampton and he’s been over to Spain to see how other people and coaches work.

“We will gladly have him around the club whenever he likes. I don’t think he’ll be back, though. He’s probably seen enough.”

Alexander witnessed Pool change their tactics to stifle Wigan’s attacking flair, a plan which worked perfectly on Saturday as Pool recorded back-to-back 1-0 wins.

It saw the Seasiders sacrifice wingers in favour of a more solid look, with Will Aimson operating just in front of the back four.

And McDonald was delighted with Aimson’s display.

The Pool boss added: “I wanted him to act as a bit of a shield for us and stop Wigan getting the ball to their front men. I thought he did brilliantly in there.”

Aimson’s only previous Pool appearance had also been against the Latics – in last month’s Johnstone’s Paint Trophy defeat.

McDonald added: “I wouldn’t say he had a nightmare personally last time, although as a team we shipped four.

“We haven’t picked up enough points away from home, so I thought we’d have a change.

“We did that and picked up three points, so I was delighted.”