Hartlepool goal hero Nicky Deverdics reveals just who he wants in the FA Cup draw

Pools eased through the first round of the competition thanks to a 3-0 win over Stamford at the Northern Gas and Power Stadium yesterday afternoon.

While many would have seen this as a banana skin for Craig Hignett’s men, they dealt with their non-league opponents with a minimal amount of fuss.

And Deverdics is hoping for something similar in the next round.

He wants another non-league team, preferably at the Vic, opening the door to more lucrative, high-profile matches at the third round stage.

The midfielder, who netted a cracking free-kick to get the ball rolling for Pools, said: “It is only the second round so another home tie against a team from the league below would be ideal.

“It is just the teams from League One, League Two and lower at the moment so there is no one in particular I would look at and say ‘we want them’.

“We are just concentrating on getting through the rounds.

“If we get through the next one then you start to look at the glamour ties.

“In order for that to happen, another home tie would be ideal.”

Despite Deverdics’ want for another non-league side, it’s fair to say Pools didn’t have it all their own way.

It took them more than an hour to break the deadlock, although once they did get their noses in front it was a case of how many would they score?

Deverdics admits Pools had to bide their time against the Daniels.

“We had to be patient. And we were,” he said.

“We could have moved it a bit quicker at times. But we knew we had to patient and not lose our heads. The goal was coming.

“It is a tough because we felt like the goal was coming but by 60 minutes it hadn’t.

“We always felt we were in control. We always looked in control.

“We said at half-time that we had to move the ball quicker. Get them moving from side to side.

“We are trying to maybe play the Arsenal perfect goal instead of getting in down the sides.

“We changed that in the second half. We got there in the end.

“Once we got the first one it was always going to be how many.

“But until we got the first one this is the FA Cup and anything can happen.”

Deverdics continued: “It is a lose, lose kind of game.

“People look and think you should do the job but in football but with the weather and the competition anything can happen.

“I think in the end that we saw out the game well. We did a professional job. This type of game is always a banana skin.

“All it takes is a freak goal and the pressure builds. We didn’t allow that to happen. Patience in the end told.”

Not only did Pools see themselves into tonight’s draw, they also put to bed a very unwanted record.

Having not won since April at the Vic, Deverdics says it felt good to finally put an end to all of home win talk.

He said: “Picking up the home win was massive for us.

“We have had games recently that we have deserved to win and haven’t managed to see it through. It fells good to finally do that.

“As well as that we all want to do well in this competition.”

On his first goal for the club, Deverdics said: “It was one of the better ones. It was good to get off the mark.”