Preview: Chesterfield v Hartlepool United

By Albatross
February 4 2005

With the Manager of the Month award in the bag, Neale Cooper takes his Hartlepool United side on the road again to try and show that the supposed curse doesn't exist. Chesterfield however will be hoping that Coops luck is about to change.

Pools are currently on a run of 11 games undefeated and six of those have been away from home - but Chesterfield's games in the last week indicate that this will be no pushover.

Their last two games have seen them win 3-2 at Bristol City, and then draw 1-1 against Hull despite going down to ten men and, in the eyes of Spireites at least, have to overcome some less than stunning refereeing decisions. David Niven was the player dismissed for two yellow cards - but despite going 1-0 down they still fought back to take a point on Tuesday.

Overall though recent form has not been good. Chesterfield were challenging for the Playoff Places in mid-December, but a run then followed of seven games without a win that included defeats home and away to Wrexham, a home loss to Luton and a 3-0 defeat at Walsall. They hadn't lost a home game until the match with Luton; but their current run is a much less impressive five home matches without a win. At the moment that leaves them just below mid-table in 13th.

The basic problem seems to be scoring goals. Their equalizer against Hull was credited as an own goal by Boaz Myhill and they have scored just 38 times in 30 matches. Leading scorers are Caleb Folan and Tcham N'Toya with just six apiece; beyond that, influential defender Shane Nicholson (five) has scored more than the veteran Wayne Allison with four. Linked with a defence that although generally pretty mean has shown an alarming tendency to leak goals recently (17 in the last 8 games) and it's not hard to see why Roy McFarland's side have fallen away from the top end of the table.

McFarland has been quick to praise Pools in the run-up to the game, calling us "one of the best footballing teams in the division" and saying that he thinks we will be involved in the shake-up at the end of the season. This makes a change from the slight incredulity that still seems to emanate from some of the other managers in this division that yes, Hartlepool United are in fact ahead of them in the table. Preparing Spireites for a fall, or warning his players that they'll have to be on top form? Who can tell.

McFarland though is having to shuffle his pack with injury and now suspension affecting a squad that is far from large. Steve Blatherwick and Adam Smith have missed out through injury recently while Australian Aaron Downes has been away on International Duty; and now of course he will be without Niven too. Jordan Fowler has arrived on loan from Arsenal to help shore things up a little.

Meanwhile Pools look to have as close to a full bill of health as they've had at any time this season. The only absentee is Lilleshall-bound Darrell Clarke, although it seems that new arrival Jon Daly either didn't sign in time or won't be risked. I don't expect much in the way of changes though - but don't be too surprised if Coops gives the 3-5-2 formation another outing at least to start with.

So will this be another victory on the road for Pools? Chesterfield are in variable form, and much may depend on how well they play - after all plucking a point from a game against one of the top two despite being a player and a goal down is not to be sneezed at. Pools though should be full of confidence at the moment, and are starting to show the sort of form that made us the best away side in the division last season. I'll play it a little cautiously and go for a 1-1 draw - Sweeney to score another against the side he's already netted a hat-trick against this season.