Hartlepool unlucky to lose at Crawley - Craig Hignett

A solitary James Collins strike on the hour mark was the only difference between the sides on yet another disappointing afternoon for Pools.

But Hignett thinks his players efforts deserved something from the Checkatrade Stadium encounter.

He said: "I didn’t see us losing the game in the second-half to be honest.

"We played our way into the game and got a bit better and played some decent stuff without breaking through."

A lapse in concentration cost his team dear said Hignett.

“We gifted them the goal, we let Dean Cox cross too easily," said the gaffer.

"It was a decent performance, no doubt, and we probably shaded it and we said the same last week."

For all of their decent play up to the final third Pools are lacking real cutting edge in the final third. That is an assessment the manager is loathe to disagree with.

Hignett said: "We need someone who will score goals and at the minute we haven’t got that."