Hartlepool United can '˜stamp their authority on any team' - Matthew Bates

The Pools caretaker picked up his first point since taking over from Craig Harrison, as his 10-man side hung on to claim a 0-0 draw against Boreham Wood on Saturday.

And he believes that Pools can start making their mark in the fifth tier, having struggled for results for five months.

"We have tried to put some belief in the players, there has been an improvement," said Bates, whose side take on Fylde on Saturday.

"But this is a point, in terms of performances it’s been good, but we only have one point from it. We start again on Monday and they only we to get more is to play with more pride, determination – all those buzz words.

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"We take it game by game, I’m caretaker here and want as many points on the board as possible – win as many games as we can.

"Flyde had a good win this weekend and we have to come up with making it hard for them and stamping our game on them, but we matched a very good side in midweek in Aldershot and we can stamp our authority on any team."

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Bates believes that keeping things simple is paying dividends for his squad.

"We try to simplify things and have we made it clearer for them," he said.

"Is it morale or togetherness – we have put two good shifts in against two good sides. We need to carry it on."