Chesterfield assistant manager delivers verdict on Hartlepool United and the major blow to John Askey's side

Webb was answering questions ahead of Chesterfield’s trip to Hartlepool this weekend as the Spireites look to consolidate their spot at the top of the National League table. And within that, Webb shared his verdict on Pools who have seen their season take a turn for the worse since the reverse fixture.

Hartlepool arrived in August at the top of the National League and raced into a two goal lead against Paul Cook’s side before a significant injury to midfielder Mancini. The Frenchman had scored his second goal of the season before being forced off with a severe hamstring injury which continues to keep him out of action as Pools would go on to lose the game 3-2 thanks to a stoppage time winner from Tom Naylor.

And Webb believes Mancini’s injury, among others, has had a major impact on Askey’s side this season but admits form will go out of the window when the two sides meet this weekend in what he has described as a ‘gigantic’ game.

“I think they’ve been very unfortunate to lose the lad, Mancini, from midfield. He scored their second goal here and we thought the world was going to collapse after about four minutes, and we managed to turn it around. It was a crazy day,” explained Webb.

“Sadly for the lad he had a bad injury that day and he hasn’t played for them since. Hopefully, for him, he's on his way back because it's never nice to see a lad get a nasty injury, so that’s been a big loss for them in their defence.”

Webb continued: “You hear things about off the field and supporter unrest, but how many times do we say that? There’s a lot of clubs who’ve got that going on – we’ve had that at this club in the past.

“Now we haven’t, so let’s enjoy that and let’s enjoy the moment this club is in and maybe take advantage of others who aren’t in that place. I wish Hartlepool all the best, but after tomorrow.

“We’re all excited. We’ve heard we’ve sold out our allocation which is bonkers really because it’s not round the corner really is it, Hartlepool? And it’s not very warm either. So fair play to our supporters as always. It helps our players.

“Form goes out the window in every game in my opinion. They’ve only won a couple in their last 10 but John Askey is a very good, experienced manager and I’m sure he’ll be telling his players they have nothing to lose and they can cause an upset, so we’ve got to make sure that doesn’t happen.

“We’re focused and looking forward to the game. To be successful you have to overcome everything. We’re in all three competitions, which is great for the football club but they pale into insignificance before tomorrow’s game because that is gigantic.”