Pools Need To Push The Tempo At Woking

After a difficult start, Pools had gone five games unbeaten, winning four, before Eastleigh scuppered that run winning 2-1 last weekend.

Harrison put the defeat down to dropping to their visitors' low tempo and can't afford to let that happen against a Woking side, who have won five of their last six.

"We got caught up with the low tempo Eastleigh played at. We didn’t push our tempo on like we should," he said.

"They took the sting out of the game from nine to 10 minutes – the only way they were going to score was from set-pieces because they did not commit a lot forward in open play and they were quite deep.

“It’s down to mentality, body language, real enthusiasm from all players and making sure everyone’s on the front foot. We needed to keep tempo when we had the ball and have a more positive body language.”

There was some positive injury news for Hartlepool this week regarding centre-back Keith Watson, on loan from St Johnstone.

“Keith has seen a specialist and there was good news,” he said. “There is no rush for surgery. I think everyone had written it off, saying he’d need an operation and so forth. But the consultation has gone well and it was positive.

"They are looking to manage him conservatively for the next couple of weeks. Touch wood, he won’t need any op and then the rehabilitation which follows. If we can get through without an op, it could reduce the recovery time by about a third. That’s not concrete, we need to have further tests and consultations.”