Dave Challinor drops 'aggressive' team selection hint for Hartlepool United ahead of National League match against Ebbsfleet

Although personnel hasn’t changed regarding their starting line-up, Pools have been tactically adaptable based on the opponents they’ve faced.

Things will change this weekend with Macauley Southam-Hales expected to be sidelined after being knocked unconscious during Tuesday night’s 1-0 win at Solihull Moors.

As his side prepare to take on an Ebbsfleet side who have been in the relegation zone all season, Challinor is assessing how to approach things at The Vic.

“We’ll look at what we want to do, how we envisage the game might go and put a plan in place,” he said.

“We’ve got options and we can look at if we want to be very offensive and aggressive in terms of our team selection, we’ll assess that today.

“The lads have worked their socks off, we played far and above where we’ve previously been in terms of intensity on Tuesday. We’ve got to repeat that on Saturday.”

Ebbsfleet currently sit 22nd in the table but are in reasonable form having picked up 10 points from their last six league matches.

In contrast, Pools are one of the in-form sides in the division with no National League team picking up more points since New Year’s Day (18).

“We’ve watched their games back in recent weeks and we know how they want to play and what they’ll try and do,” added the United boss.

“We may need to be patient, I have a feeling it will be tough because they’re scrapping for their lives. From our perspective, it’s about controlling what we are and, as good as the last few results have been for us, Saturday is a different game and we’ve got to go out with an intent and a purpose to win.

“We’ll focus on ourselves and pick a team that gives us the best chance of doing that.

“We’re looking forward to putting a performance on at The Vic because there’s momentum to keep building. We’ve got something to play for and it’s an exciting place to be.”