First Team Coach Micky Moore is anticipating a tough examination tomorrow night, as we head to Victoria Park to face Colin Cooper’s in-form Hartlepool United.
Despite earning a good point after Saturday’s 0-0 draw with neighbours Chesterfield, our team remained in 18th position in Sky Bet League Two – and five points above the drop zone.
“It’ll be a very difficult game,” said Moore. “They’re six points off the Play-Offs and in their last five games at home, they’ve won four, drawn one, and haven’t conceded a goal in those games.
“On recent form, they’re the top team in our league. Nobody has got a better record than them. They started off slowly, but have picked up a little bit of momentum, so it’ll be a difficult game and a hard place to go.”
Moore also reflected on last Saturday’s encounter with Chesterfield at One Call Stadium, which finished in a stalemate as our team were unable to convert any of their late chances.
“On Saturday, although people might say that a draw was a fair result, we felt we edged it in terms of opportunities – especially near the end, as there was only one team looking to win it and that was ourselves,” continued Moore.
“So is it a point gained or is it two points lost? Only time will tell, but we’re in good form, we think that we’re playing well and the mood in the camp is excellent.”
Looking at the Sky Bet League Two relegation battle as a whole, he added: “The one thing that you’ve got to do is keep your cool and your composure and just worry about the next game.
“There are a lot of teams in the mix down there, so at this minute in time it’s hard to predict who will do what. We’ve just got to take care of ourselves and just focus on the [game at] Hartlepool.
“We believe and trust that we’ve got enough in the camp to get enough points to climb up this league and pull out of [the position that we’re in] quite quickly.”
In team news, centre-back Ryan Tafazolli is rated as 50/50 for tomorrow night’s match at Victoria Park. However, Darryl Westlake will be available for selection again after serving a one-match ban.
Meanwhile, Ben Hutchinson is set to miss the remainder of the campaign due to a recurrence of a hamstring injury.
To hear the full interview with Micky Moore ahead of tomorrow’s match, visit Stags Player. To subscribe, click here.
