Latest away defeat means home pressure is on Pools
Sam Collins
By Clarence Rode
February 11 2008
It speaks volumes for Hartlepool's current situation that they are desperate to be able to field a player who has only been in action for two and a half hours for them. But their planning for the home game with Port Vale centres on whether they will be able to pick Sam Collins, signed from Hull less than two weeks ago and sent off in his second game for the club.
Pools have appealed against the red card shown to Collins after just over an hour at Southend, but they won't be calling the player who was the victim of the alleged attack as a witness.
Collins was sent off for allegedly elbowing Lee Barnard, but he says he didn't use his elbow and Danny Wilson (right) agrees after viewing the match video. If an appeal is allowed, Collins will be able to play against Vale, his former club, pending the result of a hearing.
But Barnard knows which way he thinks the decision should go.
He has told the Southend website: "I don't like to see players getting red cards, but he just had to go for what he did. It came out of the blue really, because he asn't really kicking me or anything up until just before the incident, when he punched me in the back.
"I carried on, but when we got to the edge of the area he took another look at me and just swung an elbow into my face. It was a definite red card."
So there.
The red card was the main talking point, but Pools didn't play at all badly and were in front for almost an hour.
In their last home game they hammered a poor Luton side 4-0, but Luton's current situation was underlined on Saturday when they were thumped 4-1 at home by Bournemouth.
If Collins is out, Godwin Antwi will probably switch back to centre-half alongside Michael Nelson, unless Ben Clark is fit again.
But more problems are on the horizon - Nelson picked up a fifth booking at Southend and will be banned for Saturday's visit to Cheltenham.
Life is gtting very complicated for Pools.
They're having a larf.
