Dave Challinor on Hartlepool United's record breaking start to the season away from home following 3-1 win at Yeovil Town

There may have been several postponements in between but Saturday’s 3-1 win at Yeovil Town saw Pools climb back into the play-off places by continuing their perfect start to the season on the road.

Hartlepool’s impressive scoring record at Huish Park also continued as they’ve now found the net nine times at Yeovil over the past two seasons with eight different scorers – another club record.

While Pools boss Dave Challinor is pleased with his side’s promising start to the campaign on the road, he feels the lack of crowds this season has made it easier for visiting teams.

“You look at the stats across the board regarding home and away matches, home advantage can really help with crowds in getting behind the team but that’s not been the case this year,” Challinor told The Mail.

“Our performances or rather our results at home haven’t mirrored what we’ve done away but it’s a weird environment.

"At Yeovil it was so quiet on Saturday in a ground where it’s usually buzzing and the crowd plays a big part.

"It’s an odd situation and quite literally a sanitized environment. We haven’t approached games differently whether it’s home or away but we’re on a decent run and hopefully that can continue at Barnet on Tuesday night.”

After losing three consecutive matches in all competitions, Challinor felt Saturday’s big win was crucial to help his players regain any lost confidence.

“The three points should do their confidence the world of good but it’s a quick turnaround and we’ve got another important game on Tuesday,” he added.

"Football games at this level are so tight and we’ve seen that already this season. The only poor game we’ve had was Torquay, the rest of the games are almost a toss of a coin.

"From the Torquay game we’ve been a lot better defensively and more resolute.

From a defensive standpoint, it was a proper game of football and lower-league football in this country at its best and a really good lesson for some of our young defenders in particular.”

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