No excuses, it's time for Hartlepool United to deliver - Scott Loach

Pools head into the weekend clash at Barrow looking to end a winless run which stretches back to November 21.

It’s a run which has coincided with the club walking a financial tightrope off the field, with players still not knowing if they will be paid at the end of this month.

But Loach does not want that to be used as any kind of excuse.

“Honestly, I think that is an excuse,” he said of anyone talking about issues off the park coinciding with difficulties on it.

“I can understand lads who lose it a bit when they don’t know where their future is going to be.

“But I think we have enough lads in the dressing room with the experience for that not to make too much of a difference.”

Loach stands by his comments from earlier this season - he still believes Pools have got what it takes to produce the goods this campaign.

And while sights might have been on promotion before, they’re very much on avoiding the drop now.

“We can’t keep saying quality, we have to start showing it on the pitch,” he said.

“Some how and some way we have to get a win on the table.

“When I signed here I looked and thought we had good players here.

“Every player elsewhere that I speak to said the same thing aswell. They all thought we should be right up there.

“But nothing in this game is won on paper. We haven’t delivered enough or been anywhere near the level of consistency we should have been. Consistency gets you up - the team that is least bad, most of the time usually gets you up.”

The 29-year-old continued: “A two week break is never good. After a defeat you just want a game on the Tuesday night.

“But we have to use this as a positive. We have had a chance to go away and recharge the batteries.”