Gavan Holohan praises impact of caretaker duo Antony Sweeney and Ian McGuckin following Hartlepool United's 2-2 draw at Notts County

Luke James added to Holohan’s strike to make it 2-0 before a Wes Thomas brace saw the points shared at Meadow Lane.

Following the match, the Irish midfielder was keen to praise the work caretaker pair Antony Sweeney and Ian McGuckin have done so far.

“We went 2-0 up, playing really well and looked comfortable in the game,” Holohan said.

“It was a bit of a mistake that led to the goal and it came at a bad time for us I think. It would have been different if we go in at 2-0.

“We’re frustrated but it’s a good point at a big club and a good side like Notts County.

“They are one of the top teams in this league and I think they’ll be there or there abouts come the end of the season.

“My [goal] was just one of those, the ball came out to me nicely and it was just about getting a clean contact on it and hitting it nicely to get it on target.

“Sweens is always drilling on to me and Hawkesy as well as the other midfielders to just hit the target because you never know what’s going to happen and it took a slight deflection but it’s nice to get a goal though it would have been even nicer to get a win.

“The first half performance is right up there for me and I think I speak for all the boys in saying that.

“We played some brilliant stuff and we worked all week on a game plan and it has come off again so that’s two weeks in a row where the game plan has been absolutely spot on which is very rare.

“Obviously once they started to change things then it became more difficult but it says a lot about Sweens and Gucky that they’ve been able to implement that and get us to go out there and do it on the pitch.

“It was a really good performance and a lot of positives to take from it.”