Eastleigh boss makes strong claim about his side after Hartlepool United defeat

Hill – in charge at the Silverlake Stadium for a third time after being handed the role once more on a permanent basis earlier this season following the dismissal of Lee Bradbury – lamented the second half performance from his team as they surrendered a positive position at half-time when succumbing to a 3-1 defeat.

The Spitfires had got themselves back into the game when Chris Maguire marked his Hartlepool return of sorts with a wonderful free kick, and they almost went into half-time in front but for an exceptional piece of defending from Emmanuel Onariase to deny Enzio Boldewijn in the closing stages of the first half.

But, in truth, it was a game which belonged to Pools, who controlled for the majority, as they claimed a deserved three points thanks to a second half double from Emmanuel Dieseruvwe.

And while Hill acknowledged Hartlepool merited their victory, the Spitfires chief insisted his side need to improve if they are to compete for a play-off place this season.

"Without a doubt [it was a fair result]. They were better than us in the 15-20 minute spell in the second half,” Hill confessed.

"It’s okay playing when you’re 3-1 down, two goals behind, it’s easy. I could have gone on and done that. You have to play when it’s a draw.

"You have to come away from home to these places, if you want to be anything, and you have to be hard to beat. And in the second half it was too easy to beat us.”

Hill added: "We were just playing on the edge, in the first half, of what we have been, but the second half performance wasn’t an acceptable performance and we’ve conceded goals that we shouldn’t be conceding.

“You can’t play well every week, but when you don’t play well you don’t make it easy for the opposition to play well.

"The lads are disappointed and so they should be. We’ve had a good bunch of fans here and it’s not just around the corner to Hartlepool, it’s a long old way.”