Hartlepool United attacker Adam Campbell relishing the prospect of midweek trip to title-chasing York City
Hartlepool United attacker Adam Campbell insists Pools are relishing the prospect of Wednesday's trip to title-chasing York City.
Pools are gearing up for one of their sternest tests of the entire campaign against a Minstermen side who have won 13 of their last 16 matches in all competitions and are just two points behind National League leaders Rochdale.
Whereas Pools have struggled for goals all season, York are the division's highest scorers by a distance having found the net a remarkable 78 times in 30 games - that's 22 more than Boreham Wood, who boast the league's second most potent front line. Indeed, York's leading scorer Ollie Pearce has notched 28 goals in 32 games this term; the entire Pools squad put together have managed just 33 goals in 31 matches.
Pools, then, will have to be at their best defensively if they're to stand any chance of picking up a result at the York Community Stadium, although manager Nicky Featherstone could well be forced to field a patched up back line, with Jay Benn a doubt after missing Saturday's dramatic draw with mid-table Tamworth through illness while Tom Parkes trudged off with a knee injury seven minutes into the second half in Staffordshire. Both versatile defender Cameron John, who started for the first time since returning from suspension at The Lamb Ground on Saturday, and winger Tyrese Sinclair are ineligible to play against their parent-club.
Despite all the renewed optimism and positivity surrounding the club in the wake of Landon Smith's takeover on New Year's Eve, recent results and performances have left a lot to be desired. Pools have won just two of their last six matches since Smith bought the club from controversial former owner Raj Singh and even narrow victories over relegation-threatened Altrincham and rock bottom Gateshead had more than an element of fortune to them. Featherstone's side have been on the wrong end of heavy defeats at the hands of both Woking, who trounced them 4-0 in January, and Aldershot, who dismantled Pools 3-0 two weeks ago, while draws with Brackley and Tamworth were not especially inspirational.
Yet Pools will surely take heart from the fact that they produced one of their best performances of the season to beat league leaders Rochdale in December despite coming into the game off the back of a miserable four-match winless run. With Featherstone's side just two points outside the National League play-off places, a positive result in Yorkshire has the potential to serve as a real shot in the arm in Pools' pursuit of a place in the top seven ahead of a winnable game against strugglers Sutton at the weekend.
Pools fans making the trip to the York Community Stadium on Wednesday will perhaps be hoping that a return to form for Campbell can inspire their side against the Minstermen. The 31-year-old, who has endured another up-and-down campaign and was the target of criticism from the terraces following a dip in his performances last month, ended a run of nine games without a goal by lashing home the opener against Tamworth at the weekend and the forward is confident his side won't need any motivating ahead of one of their biggest matches of the season.
"We're definitely looking forward to the occasion," Campbell said.
"It's so easy to get up for games like that, it's going to be a big crowd and Hartlepool fans will travel in massive numbers as well. It's one of those games that everybody wants to be a part of and looks forward to.
"Obviously York are flying at the moment and we need to be really at the top of our game to get anything out of it."