The data behind Tom Crawford's performance against Scunthorpe United as former Notts County midfielder gives Hartlepool United boss Graeme Lee food for thought

Pools have won three out of four games since the former defender was appointed as new manager at the beginning of the month with victories over League One sides Sheffield Wednesday and Lincoln City in the Papa John’s Trophy and FA Cup respectively, alongside a first League Two win at home against Rochdale before Saturday’s stalemate with Scunthorpe United.

And after five straight defeats in the league, it’s fair to say there has been a bit of a shift in the momentum at the Suit Direct Stadium since Lee’s arrival following a barren spell in November.

Lee and his assistant, Michael Nelson, weren’t in the dugout for their first game in charge at Sheffield Wednesday, but their presence was certainly felt as Pools cruised to a comprehensive win over the Owls.

That momentum has continued with the much sought after ‘new bounce’ syndrome appearing to find its way among the Pools squad.

And while it may be a small sample of games to digest, one player who is worth taking a look at is midfielder Tom Crawford.

The 22-year-old, signed from Notts County last summer, has struggled to really stamp his authority on the Pools side since his arrival with appearances often limited from the substitutes bench.

However, in that opening game for Lee and Nelson at Hillsborough in the Papa John’s Trophy, Crawford was certainly a player to have benefited from being one of the first under the spotlight for Lee’s initial eye test of the squad.

The midfielder never stopped all evening, giving George Byers, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru and Middlesbrough loanee Lewis Wing a torrid evening. It was a marked improvement from the performance at Port Vale just days earlier where he was substituted not long after the hour.

Crawford was one of those to be rotated for the trip to Lincoln and then a victim of such a positive result over the Imps as he found himself on the bench for the visit of Rochdale.

Lee suggested the midfielder had been 'very unfortunate' not to start against Dale but his impact from the bench in the 77th minute was what drove Pools on to seal their come from behind win, including playing a part in Mark Shelton’s winner.

It meant Crawford would start the game against Scunthopre where he produced, statistically at least, one of his finer performances of the season.

Crawford is yet to score or assist for Pools this season but Saturday’s game with the Iron saw his most ‘total actions’ in a game this season with 91 as per data experts Wyscout.

Not only that, but Saturday’s game saw Crawford record his second most attempts on goal in a game (three), compared to six against Everton U21’s in the Papa John’s Trophy, his most attempted (seven) and completed (three) dribbles of the season and he made 14 forward passes, five of them into the final third, which is again only second to his display against Everton’s youngsters.

Crawford attempted more duels, which can be defined by a direct competition or face-off with opposing players anywhere on the pitch to win possession of the ball, in the goalless draw with Scunthorpe (40) by almost double his next best tally against Morecambe (24) with the midfielder drawing four fouls in the game, also a season high.

So what could Crawford’s increased output be put down to?

Lee has, for the most part, looked to translate some of the success of previous manager Dave Challinor into his Pools side, particularly by trying to regain possession as quickly as possible and as high up the pitch as possible.

Crawford’s role, both as a late substitute against Rochdale and for 90 minutes against Scunthorpe, was slightly more advanced of the three midfielders. This lends itself to Crawford providing higher numbers in the final third of the pitch when it comes to dribbles and passes.

It also may explain a higher number of fouls drawn, with Crawford picking up the ball in more dangerous areas of the pitch.

Further evidence of Crawford’s slightly advanced role can perhaps be seen with the total number of recoveries made by Pools throughout the game which stood at 106 - second only to the 107 made against Crawley Town on the opening day of the season.

However, those recoveries can be broken down further into where they were made on the pitch.

For example, in the opening day win over Crawley, Pools made 55 low recoveries, 46 medium recoveries and just six high recoveries. Contrast that with Saturday where they made 44 low recoveries, 48 medium recoveries and 14 high recoveries.

As mentioned at the top of the article, it remains early days in Lee’s tenure but those particular stats are positive for Pools should they be able to maintain them over a prolonged period of time.

As for Crawford, while his impact in terms of goals scored and assists made will need to improve by his own admission, the sudden upward trajectory of certain elements within his game offers encouragement that those all important stats will improve over the rest of the season.

Crawford, still young at 22, has only been at the Suit Direct Stadium for little over a year and is part of a highly competitive battle for arguably only one of two midfield slots, with captain Nicky Featherstone expected to claim the third spot more often than not.

But it’s fair to say Crawford, along with Shelton, Gavan Holohan, Matty Daly and Martin Smith all offer some food for thought for new manager Lee.

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