Pools need urgent repair job at Orient

Hartlepool United to to Leyton Orient on Saturday desperately searching for a cure to their current League One problems, and with fiuve defeats in their last six games behind them, they must know it won't be easy.

The results in that awful run speak for themselves, and Mick Wadsworth has admitted that half a dozen of his players are not performing at their best at present.

The question is, what is he going to do about it?

Football “wisdom” suggests that you don’t become a bad team overnight, and after going through their first nine games unbeaten Pools clearly have something going for them.

But even some of the p[layers have admitted that while they may have been unbeaten at the start, they were hardly playing like world-beaters and that leaves the fans wondering which is the REAL Hartlepool United.

There’s been some good news pre-match already, with Nobby Solano and Antony Sweeney both back in training after lengthy spells out injured.

Wadsworth admits they’ve both been missed and told the Northern Echo: “Good news. We need them.

"Both are pretty near to fitness now, but Tony is a little bit behind Nobby.

"Nobby trained on Friday and did some fitness work at the weekend so he may be back into full training this week.

"That would be good news because that quality we desperately need and have desperately lacked at times. Sweeney might be a little bit further behind but we'll see."

Much of the week so far has been spent trying to get the blow of last weekend’s home hammering at the hands of Charlton out of the squad’s system and Wadsworth admitted: "I will apologise to the fans for this. The fans were fantastic on Saturday.

"We've done too much for a knee-jerk reaction but we have to dig ourselves out of it damn quick.''

The first chance is in London on Saturday against an Orient side who have recovered well after a bad start to the season.

A result would be a good pick-me-up before the following weekend's FA Cup first round tie against Stevenage, a game which is far more important than it looks because a cup run is vital after early knock-outs in the Carling and Johnstone's Paints.