Dave Challinor explains why he dropped ‘best player’ in favour of 'balance' and 'flexibility' for Hartlepool United

Manager Dave Challinor said prior to the match that Pools’ defensive positions were in jeopardy after the 3-2 defeat at Barrow.

But Timi Odusina was the only player to make way with Zaine Francis-Angol coming in on the left of the back three for his first league start of the season.

Pools are currently in the market for a left-footed centre-back and while Francis-Angol is naturally a left-back, he was able to slot into the role well as Hartlepool kept another clean sheet at The Vic.

Odusina, who is naturally right-footed, was instrumental on the right of a back three as Pools secured promotion from the National League via the play-offs last season.

Explaining the decision to drop the 21-year-old, Challinor said: “There’s more balance going for Zaine. Timi was unfortunate to miss out, I thought he defended poorly last week and we’ve spoken about that.

“But, to be fair, probably since the playoff game when he came in, he’s probably been our best player. He was terrific in the three playoff games and he was terrific at the beginning of this season so he is unfortunate to miss out.

“I watched [Walsall] on Tuesday and preempted that we may need to change our shape slightly.

“As a four, I wanted Jamie [Sterry] in as a right-back which meant that Zaine could come in as a left-back and push Fergie up the pitch. He just gave us more flexibility in that way as well.”

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