Pools need to maintain revival at Southend

Buoyed up by a comfortable 3-0 win over Millwall that has made their hold on a mid-table position in League One look more secure, Hartlepool take their impressive away form and tip-top clean-sheet record to Southend on Saturday looking for more away points.

After three defeats on the trot, all of them avoidable, the Millwall win has restored some pride just days after the bad news that James Brown will be out for up to three months after his latest knee injury.
Southend are three points behind Pools and have already been beaten three times at Roots Hall.
They are one of several teams said to be in financial difficulties, but they were a bit unfortunate to lose 1-0 at Charlton last weekend – their third defeat on the trot and their fifth in the last six games.
Pools boss Chris Turner was pleased with his team’s performance at the weekend, a major bonus being the goalscoring form of big striker Armann Bjornsson. The Iceland international terrorised the Millwall defence and having settled into English football now appears to be a major asset.
His partnership with Adam Boyd is looking very promising and if Denis Behan and Brown were fit now, it’s not certain they would get straight back into the team.
Richie Jones will be hoping to play after missing the Millwall game with an illness that got worse during the pre-match warm-up, though Antony Sweeney didn’t do badly in central midfield alongside Richie Humphreys.
Leon McSweeney was another bonus on Saturday, coming into the team wide on the right at short notice when Jones was ruled out and having arguably his best game of the season.
Whoever plays, though, a result for Pools after hot-and-cold away performances at both Huddersfield and Carlisle, where leads were given away each time, would be very welcome.