Moore admits interest in Evans

Hartlepool manager Ronnie Moore has announced he would like to sign convicted rapist Ched Evans.

Former Sheffield United and Wales striker Evans had an offer to train with his former club retracted last month following strong local opposition to the proposal. But Moore, who took over as boss of the bottom club in the Football League this week, has confirmed he could look to bring in 25-year-old Evans. He said after Saturday's 1-1 home draw with Oxford: "It's a possibility. "If it could happen, I would want it to happen. He is a proven scorer; he's served his time and the boy wants to play football. "If there is a chance he might come here, I don't see any reason why he shouldn't. "He has made a mistake and maybe he hasn't apologised in the right way - and I know he has an appeal case pending - but if he gets on the park, he would go a long way to getting us out of trouble." Pools remain rooted to the foot of the table following the draw in Moore's first match at the helm. It appeared he would begin with a victory when on-loan striker Joe Ironside put Pools ahead just after half time. But Danny Hylton's 13th goal of the season earned Oxford a share of the spoils. Moore added: "I could not fault the effort, commitment or desire. It seems that when we went in front, we started to worry. "There are a lot of positives. We looked good going forward; we weren't like Real Madrid but you're not going to be at this level. "I can't fault the effort and commitment. We were just a bit sloppy. We've limited a very good side to very few chances. "If we had taken our chances in the first half, we could have won. We have just got to start believing." Oxford manager Michael Appleton was pleased with a 'decent point', admitting Moore's impact on Hartlepool was evident. He said: "Obviously (they had) a new manager coming in and they had a lot more impetus about them - they worked harder. "I've watched the videos from previous games and it must be disappointing from their fans' point of view that they are prepared to do that now. "Ronnie Moore is a very good manager and he had his team stopping us playing in the first half especially. But I think a point in the end was a decent one for us."