diff --git a/components/client/src/main/java/com/hotels/styx/client/connectionpool/SimpleConnectionPool.java b/components/client/src/main/java/com/hotels/styx/client/connectionpool/SimpleConnectionPool.java
index 67952be3ef..fb3d4f5922 100644
--- a/components/client/src/main/java/com/hotels/styx/client/connectionpool/SimpleConnectionPool.java
+++ b/components/client/src/main/java/com/hotels/styx/client/connectionpool/SimpleConnectionPool.java
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ public class SimpleConnectionPool implements ConnectionPool, Connection.Listener
     private final Origin origin;
 
     private final ConcurrentLinkedDeque<MonoSink<Connection>> waitingSubscribers;
-    private final Queue<Connection> activeConnections;
+    private final Queue<Connection> availableConnections;
     private final AtomicInteger borrowedCount = new AtomicInteger();
     private final SimpleConnectionPool.ConnectionPoolStats stats = new SimpleConnectionPool.ConnectionPoolStats();
     private final AtomicInteger connectionAttempts = new AtomicInteger();
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ public SimpleConnectionPool(Origin origin, ConnectionPoolSettings poolSettings,
         this.poolSettings = requireNonNull(poolSettings);
         this.connectionSettings = new ConnectionSettings(poolSettings.connectTimeoutMillis());
         this.connectionFactory = requireNonNull(connectionFactory);
-        this.activeConnections = new ConcurrentLinkedDeque<>();
+        this.availableConnections = new ConcurrentLinkedDeque<>();
         this.waitingSubscribers = new ConcurrentLinkedDeque<>();
     }
 
@@ -76,26 +76,17 @@ public Publisher<Connection> borrowConnection() {
         return Mono.<Connection>create(sink -> {
             Connection connection = dequeue();
             if (connection != null) {
-                if (borrowedCount.getAndIncrement() < poolSettings.maxConnectionsPerHost()) {
-                    sink.success(connection);
-                } else {
-                    borrowedCount.decrementAndGet();
-                    queueNewConnection(connection);
-                }
+                borrowedCount.incrementAndGet();
+                sink.success(connection);
             } else {
-                if (waitingSubscribers.size() >= poolSettings.maxPendingConnectionsPerHost()) {
+                if (waitingSubscribers.size() < poolSettings.maxPendingConnectionsPerHost()) {
+                    this.waitingSubscribers.add(sink.onDispose(() -> waitingSubscribers.remove(sink)));
+                    newConnection();
+                } else {
                     sink.error(new MaxPendingConnectionsExceededException(
                             origin,
                             poolSettings.maxPendingConnectionsPerHost(),
                             poolSettings.maxPendingConnectionsPerHost()));
-                } else {
-                    this.waitingSubscribers.add(sink.onCancel(() -> waitingSubscribers.remove(sink)));
-                    int borrowed = borrowedCount.get();
-                    int inEstablishment = connectionsInEstablishment.getAndIncrement();
-
-                    if ((borrowed + inEstablishment) < poolSettings.maxConnectionsPerHost()) {
-                        newConnection();
-                    }
                 }
             }
         }).timeout(
@@ -104,6 +95,14 @@ public Publisher<Connection> borrowConnection() {
     }
 
     private void newConnection() {
+        int borrowed = borrowedCount.get();
+        int inEstablishment = connectionsInEstablishment.getAndIncrement();
+
+        if ((borrowed + inEstablishment) >= poolSettings.maxConnectionsPerHost()) {
+            connectionsInEstablishment.decrementAndGet();
+            return;
+        }
+
         connectionAttempts.incrementAndGet();
         newConnection(MAX_ATTEMPTS)
                 .doOnNext(it -> it.addConnectionListener(SimpleConnectionPool.this))
@@ -129,10 +128,10 @@ private Mono<Connection> newConnection(int attempts) {
     }
 
     private Connection dequeue() {
-        Connection connection = activeConnections.poll();
+        Connection connection = availableConnections.poll();
 
         while (nonNull(connection) && !connection.isConnected()) {
-            connection = activeConnections.poll();
+            connection = availableConnections.poll();
         }
 
         return connection;
@@ -141,7 +140,7 @@ private Connection dequeue() {
     private void queueNewConnection(Connection connection) {
         MonoSink<Connection> subscriber = waitingSubscribers.poll();
         if (subscriber == null) {
-            activeConnections.add(connection);
+            availableConnections.add(connection);
         } else {
             borrowedCount.incrementAndGet();
             subscriber.success(connection);
@@ -181,7 +180,7 @@ public ConnectionPoolSettings settings() {
     @Override
     public void connectionClosed(Connection connection) {
         terminatedConnections.incrementAndGet();
-        activeConnections.remove(connection);
+        availableConnections.remove(connection);
     }
 
     public ConnectionPool.Stats stats() {
@@ -192,7 +191,7 @@ public ConnectionPool.Stats stats() {
     private class ConnectionPoolStats implements Stats {
         @Override
         public int availableConnectionCount() {
-            return activeConnections.size();
+            return availableConnections.size();
         }
 
         @Override
@@ -233,7 +232,7 @@ public int connectionsInEstablishment() {
         @Override
         public String toString() {
             return MoreObjects.toStringHelper(this)
-                    .add("\nactiveConnections", availableConnectionCount())
+                    .add("\navailableConnections", availableConnectionCount())
                     .add("\npendingConnections", pendingConnectionCount())
                     .add("\nbusyConnections", busyConnectionCount())
                     .add("\nconnectionAttempts", connectionAttempts())
diff --git a/components/client/src/main/java/com/hotels/styx/client/connectionpool/StatsReportingConnectionPool.java b/components/client/src/main/java/com/hotels/styx/client/connectionpool/StatsReportingConnectionPool.java
index 3e8a2e73b6..2b2fc6c7ea 100644
--- a/components/client/src/main/java/com/hotels/styx/client/connectionpool/StatsReportingConnectionPool.java
+++ b/components/client/src/main/java/com/hotels/styx/client/connectionpool/StatsReportingConnectionPool.java
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ private static void registerMetrics(ConnectionPool hostConnectionPool, MetricReg
         scopedRegistry.register("connection-failures", (Gauge<Integer>) () -> (int) stats.connectionFailures());
         scopedRegistry.register("connections-closed", (Gauge<Integer>) () -> (int) stats.closedConnections());
         scopedRegistry.register("connections-terminated", (Gauge<Integer>) () -> (int) stats.terminatedConnections());
-        scopedRegistry.register("in-establishment", (Gauge<Integer>) () -> (int) stats.connectionsInEstablishment());
+        scopedRegistry.register("connections-in-establishment", (Gauge<Integer>) () -> (int) stats.connectionsInEstablishment());
     }
 
     private void registerMetrics() {
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ private void removeMetrics() {
         MetricRegistry scopedRegistry = getMetricScope(connectionPool);
         asList("busy-connections", "pending-connections", "available-connections", "ttfb",
                 "connection-attempts", "connection-failures", "connections-closed", "connections-terminated",
-                "in-establishment")
+                "connections-in-establishment")
                 .forEach(scopedRegistry::deregister);
     }
 
diff --git a/components/client/src/test/unit/java/com/hotels/styx/client/connectionpool/SimpleConnectionPoolFactoryTest.java b/components/client/src/test/unit/java/com/hotels/styx/client/connectionpool/SimpleConnectionPoolFactoryTest.java
index 33a885e095..01109b2660 100644
--- a/components/client/src/test/unit/java/com/hotels/styx/client/connectionpool/SimpleConnectionPoolFactoryTest.java
+++ b/components/client/src/test/unit/java/com/hotels/styx/client/connectionpool/SimpleConnectionPoolFactoryTest.java
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ public void registersMetricsUnderOriginsScope() {
                 "origins.test-app.origin-X.connectionspool.pending-connections",
                 "origins.test-app.origin-X.connectionspool.available-connections",
                 "origins.test-app.origin-X.connectionspool.busy-connections",
-                "origins.test-app.origin-X.connectionspool.in-establishment"
+                "origins.test-app.origin-X.connectionspool.connections-in-establishment"
         ));
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/components/client/src/test/unit/java/com/hotels/styx/client/connectionpool/StatsReportingConnectionPoolTest.java b/components/client/src/test/unit/java/com/hotels/styx/client/connectionpool/StatsReportingConnectionPoolTest.java
index c9501e92f1..b50f096842 100644
--- a/components/client/src/test/unit/java/com/hotels/styx/client/connectionpool/StatsReportingConnectionPoolTest.java
+++ b/components/client/src/test/unit/java/com/hotels/styx/client/connectionpool/StatsReportingConnectionPoolTest.java
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ public void removesRegisteredMetricsOnClose() {
                 "origins.generic-app.backend-01.connectionspool.busy-connections",
                 "origins.generic-app.backend-01.connectionspool.pending-connections",
                 "origins.generic-app.backend-01.connectionspool.connection-attempts",
-                "origins.generic-app.backend-01.connectionspool.in-establishment",
+                "origins.generic-app.backend-01.connectionspool.connections-in-establishment",
                 "origins.generic-app.backend-01.connectionspool.connection-failures",
                 "origins.generic-app.backend-01.connectionspool.connections-closed",
                 "origins.generic-app.backend-01.connectionspool.connections-terminated"