Another stepping stone for Pools

Last weekend’s draw at Swindon might not have stopped the recent rot for Hartlepool United, but it has slowed it down a bit and they can go into Saturday’s home game against Yeovil less desperate than they might have been had they not got a result at the County Ground.

But there is a price to pay for that single point, midfielder Gary Liddle will be sorely missed as he serves his suspension for being sent off against Swindon.

With six games to go, three at home and three away, Pools look safe with 51 points, but you can never be sure and as long as the teams in the bottom four can mathematically catch them there’s never any room for relaxing. However, talk of them reaching 60 points is as over-ambitious as earlier talk of them getting into the play-offs.

Mick Wadsworth is more realistic – he described the Swindon point as a good stepping stone, and of course that’s all it was. Yeovil is another.

Yeovil are just below Pools, four points behind, and aren’t safe themselves so they will arrive at the Vic in need of a result themselves, and with seven away wins they have a slightly better record on their travels than Pools do.

Pools’ remaining fixtures after the Yeovil game are away to Sheffield Wednesday (not yet safe), home to Tranmere (not safe), away to Southampton (going for automatic promotion), home to Bournemouth (in the play-offs) and away to Charlton (safe but should be safer).

So really none of the remaining games is likely to be easy, with all Pools’ opponents all having strong reasons for doing well.

Pools’ results and performances before the Swindon draw were rubbish, and even at Swindon they hardly looked like world-beaters. But at least they avoided defeat against a side which has struggled to win all season.

as we have said, pools look safe and let’s face it, many fans would have gladly accepted being in this position if they had been offered it a dozen or so games into the season.

Beating Yeovil should make absolutely sure of safety, and at least give the fans who have suffered a season of inconsistency something to smile about.

It’s long overdue.