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Safe at last, Pools can relax in last nine games
By Clarence Rode March 13 2008
Having achieved League One safety, barring disasters, with three wins on the trot, Hartlepool can afford to relax and let their football do the talking as they begin their last nine games of the season at Tranmere. It will be a pleasant change for players, manager and fans to go into a game not desperate for safety points.
Pools are now 13 points clear of the drop zone and only six behind the play-off zone, so they could be forgiven for nmursing secret dreams of turning an inconsistent season into a late push for glory.
But one thing at a time, and let's not allow that three-game unbeaten run to go to our heads, eh?
But it would be good to see the team relying on its football ability rather than it's frayed nerves at Prenton Park and in the rest of the season's matches. If that happens, you never know where we might finish up. (Notice that it's "we" now rather then "they". We're as fickle as owt, us).
Moore actionJames Brown, Richard Barker and Ben Clark might be out injured, but the outlook is bright with Sam Collins a hero at the back, Arran Lee-Barrett looking a canny keeper, Andy Monkhouse back to something like his old self and Joel Porter and Michael Mackay running their legs off up front.
Add to all that the rejuvenated form of Michael Nelson, Antony Sweeney's comeback etc etc, and we have every reason to look forward to a happy ending to the season.
Tranmere won't be easy, though. They are three points ahead of Pools and claim to have play-off ambitions, so a Pools result would be very handy.
Ian Moore (right) will be hoping to put one over his former mates, and so will another ex-Poolie, Chris Shuker. Moore, a regular scorer for Pools before he joined his dad Ronnie at Prenton Park in January, has only scored twice for Rovers.
They were well beaten when they went to Oldham last week, just a few days after Pools won at Boundary Park. But they followed that with a useful performance at Swansea on Tuesday night, grabbing a 1-1 draw while Pools were beating Huddersfield 2-1 at the Vic.
But Rovers haven't won in their last four and have only two victories in their last eight matches.
But statistics are a pain in the bum anyway. What matters is that Pools carry on from where they left off against Huddersfield, one of their best performances of the season that deserved a bigger win. The result killed off Town's promotion hopes, and a repeat on Saturday could do the same for Rovers.



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