Graeme Lee's advice for Tom Crawford following start in Hartlepool's stalemate with Scunthorpe United

It was the tale of two substitutes in midweek, as a late Pools rally concluded with them picking up all three-points against Rochdale.

Some would argue that the spark for this late revival was the introduction of Joe Grey and Tom Crawford to proceedings.

Clearly, the Pools boss agreed with this assertion as he opted to start Crawford on Saturday, his only change from the side that started Wednesday’s victory.

Crawford played alongside Nicky Featherstone and midweek match-winner Mark Shelton in midfield on Saturday, but the 22-year-old struggled to have the same impact against Scunthorpe as he had against Rochdale.

Lee believes that Crawford simply needed to ‘trust himself’ in possession but was impressed with how the midfielder grew into the game:

“I said to him at half-time, I thought he rushed when he was in possession of the ball in the first-half.” Lee said.

"He was trying first-time little flicks around the corners but he didn’t retain the ball enough so I told him at half-time to trust himself to take a touch, protect the ball if someone is tight on him but if you can take your touch you might create something.

"I thought as the second-half went on, he started coming into the game a little bit, like he did when he came on as sub [against Rochdale].

"He got in some good areas, it’s just picking that right pass.

"Sometimes we tried to complicate it and tried to switch the play when it wasn’t on or force balls through men when they were loaded with a load of bodies.

"He gave everything he can, I have seen him [play] better, but like I said as the game went on I thought he did start to get stronger.”

The draw with bottom-side Scunthorpe leaves Hartlepool in 13th position in League Two, having been leapfrogged in the table by Walsall.

The Saddler’s defeated Colchester United 3-0 on Saturday, a defeat that leaves Hartlepool’s next opponents sitting perilously in 20th place in the table.

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