Former Carlisle United, Walsall and Bradford City defender discusses Hartlepool United's end of season struggles

Liddle was not involved as Pools fell to a third straight defeat at the Suit Direct Stadium against Swindon Town after the defender suffered a calf strain late last week.

Liddle has made 37 appearances for Pools this season and has helped contribute to what has been a successful year in that they have maintained their Football League status with several games to spare.

But the manner in which Pools’ campaign appears to have fizzled out over the last two months has led to growing frustrations from supporters.

At the beginning of March, Pools were outside contenders for a push towards the play-off places. But just one win in 10 games since then has seen them slide into the bottom half of the table, just three points above 20th placed Carlisle United.

And Liddle believes they will have to deal with any criticism which may come their way with players having been labelled as ‘on the beach’ in recent weeks following a series of defeats.

“It comes with results. If we were winning games we wouldn’t get labelled with it but I think the fact we’ve not won games, and we’ve lost quite a few games over the last month or two, you’ve got to expect it a little bit,” Liddle told The Mail.

“We have 5,000 fans out there coming to watch us every week. It’s certainly not for the want of trying.

“In the grand scheme of things, we’re happy we’re safe and we’re happy we’ve cemented our place in this league for next year. That was the main aim.

“But ultimately, you still want to win games and we haven’t done that and the lads are disappointed with that.

“We’ve got a lot to look forward to for next season but ultimately we want to try and win games this season. We’ve tried to do that. Admittedly, we haven’t been good enough over the last couple of months to win those games.

“It’s very inconsistent whether it be from game-to-game, or whether it be from half-to-half, we’ve been a little bit inconsistent and that's proved in the results.”

Despite that inconsistency, Liddle has reiterated how it has been a successful season for Pools on their return to the Football League.

But although the objective of survival has been achieved, Liddle has insisted there remains plenty to play for in the final two games of the season with several players, including the 35-year-old, out of contract in the summer.

“We’ve done absolutely fantastic to be safe with eight, nine, ten games to go and that’s a credit to the lads and a credit to the staff as well,” said Liddle.

“But we don’t want to go out of this season on a bit of a whimper and have the record we’ve got. A lot of the lads still have a lot to play for, including myself.

“So hopefully we can put on a show for the fans. There’s a big following going to Scunthorpe and then the final day of the season is always a big one as well so there’s a lot to play for this season.”