Away pressure on Pools as they hit the road again

Hartlepool’s poor home record is putting extra pressure on the team when they go on their travels, defending their unbeaten away run. Pools’ inability to win at home means that their away form of two wins and a draw needs to be extended when they make the long journey into deepest Essex to face Colchester this weekend.

With just one point from four home games, Pools know that they must improve at the Vic, and meanwhile they have to rely on points picked up on their travels to keep their heads above the murky waters at the wrong end of the League One table.
They go to Colchester occupying 13^th place with eight points from their seven games, but had they managed even an average of a point a game from their four home matches, they would be sharing seventh place with tomorrow’s opponents.
In past seasons, Pools’ away record has let them down badly, but so far this season it their form on their travels which is repairing damage done at the Vi, where they have lost three and picked up a solitary point with last weekend’s fight-back draw against Wycombe Wanderers.
Even allowing for the fact that teams like Charlton and Bristol Rovers have proved since winning at Pools that they are top-four teams, Chris Turner’s team’s record at home is a bad one, and the sooner it is put right the better – against Walsall at the Vic next weekend would be a start.
Meanwhile, they need a result at Colchester, where United have not quite lived up to their stunning opening day win at Norwich, after which they lost their boss to the alleged big club.
Aidy Boothroyd is in charge there now and he has been busy in the loan market this week, signing strikers Danny Bath from Wolves and Kayode Odejayi from Barnsley.