Collins' first half goal looked to have provided a tonic to Pools' pre-season worries at Hillheads Park last night after a week which has seen Chris Turner's side thrashed by Leeds and humiliated at minnows Garforth Town.

But Pools' domination and hatful of chances counted for nothing after a late equaliser denied Turner's men the win.

Pools have only managed one victory during their pre-season campaign, a 3-0 win from a largely second string side at South Shields, and face their final friendly at Blue Square Premier outfit York City on Saturday.

Turner's side face their league opener at Rochdale seven days later and skipper Collins accepts Pools would benefit from having a win under their belts by the time they head to Spotlands.

"Winning games is a good habit and we're not hiding from the fact that we need to do that," he said.

"There's loads of teams over the years who've gone through pre-season without winning a game and started the season well.

"Hopefully that can happen to us.

"But if you asked everyone, they'd still rather win games now and carry it on when the season starts.

"From that point of view, it was disappointing last night but we've just got to keep working hard and make sure we're ready for Rochdale."

FULL story in Thursday's Mail