Dave Challinor on good omens and confidence at Hartlepool United going into New Year's Day clash against Harrogate Town

After their Boxing Day disappointment at Harrogate Town, Hartlepool United responded with a 2-2 draw at home to league leaders Barrow just 48-hours later.

And on New Year’s Day they’ll face Harrogate for the third time in just over three weeks still searching for their first win over the North Yorkshire side.

A 3-2 FA Trophy collapse was followed by a 4-1 humbling at the CNG Stadium less than a week ago as Dave Challinor hopes to get a reaction from his side.

And the Hartlepool manager is hoping his past experiences over the festive period with AFC Fylde will prove to be a good omen.

“Hopefully confidence will be high after Saturday, it was a good result against Barrow and we put in great effort,” he said.

“Still, there’s more than a tinge of disappointment from what happened a week earlier. But I’ve been in positions in this league where games turn around really quickly.

“I went to Prenton Park against one of my old clubs Tranmere with Fylde and lost 4-1 on Boxing Day but then beat them 5-2 on New Year’s Day.

“As horrible as Boxing Day was, I’m hoping that’s a good omen for New Year’s Day because that’s how quickly things can turn around!”

Challinor was quick to point out the marked improvement from his side in terms of work rate against Barrow at Victoria Park and is determined not to let that standard slip.

“I will only be critical of the players if they drop their levels with those physical factors that they can control,” added the United boss.

“They did that on Boxing Day and we were embarrassed after the game and the disappointment still resonates so we need to make sure we do everything we can to try and bounce back.

“We can’t control the outcome of the game because there are so many variables but we need to make sure we give everything we’ve got because if we do that then we’ll be a lot closer than we were on Boxing Day.”