Hartlepool United boss calls on fans to "get behind the lads" as Pools look to put FA Trophy humiliation behind them
Hartlepool United manager Nicky Featherstone has called on Pools fans to "get behind the lads" as they bid to bounce back from their humiliating FA Trophy exit at the hands of Northern Premier League Division One Midlands side Anstey Nomads.
Pools supporters surely can't have imagined things getting any worse than when their side were dumped out of the FA Cup in abject fashion by Northern Premier League Premier Division outfit Gainsborough Trinity in October, Featherstone's first game in interim charge.
On that dismal night, there were at least a handful of excuses to be made.
Pools had, after all, only made the sudden and unexpected decision to sack Simon Grayson the day after the initial clash between the two sides had ended in a draw, leaving Featherstone 48 hours to prepare his team for the replay.
What's more, an injury crisis in the heart of the Pools defence forced Featherstone to turn to Nathan Sheron and Jack Hunter, neither of whom are natural centre-halves, in a bid to fill the gap in the back line.
Saturday's game, however, felt different, with Featherstone even talking up his side's chances of progressing all the way to the final and reaching Wembley Stadium for the first time in the club's entire history.
More than that, Pools came into the contest full of confidence after a run of seven National League matches unbeaten - four wins and three draws - had seen them revive their faltering play-off hopes while also landing Featherstone the manager's job until the end of the season.
True, Pools had seen their impressive run ended by a resurgent Yeovil 24 hours after Featherstone, who is the club's third highest appearance-maker of all-time and has spent more than a decade at Victoria Park, was named as the next permanent manager.
Even so, Pools should have had more than enough to sweep aside an Anstey side who ply their trade three levels below them and had never before reached the third round of the FA Trophy, let alone progressed to the fourth.
Yet, despite all the recent positivity, Pools ended up on the wrong end of one of the worst results in the club's entire history, going down 2-1 and in the process handing the plucky Nomads one of their greatest ever days.
The challenge now for Pools will be to dust themselves off and do their best to ensure that a second cup humiliation in the space of three months doesn't derail their play-off push ahead of a potentially pivotal run of National League fixtures either side of the festive period.
Pools travel to a Braintree side who are just a point above the relegation zone on Sunday before welcoming Scunthorpe, one of their direct rivals for a coveted play-off spot, on Boxing Day and travelling to league leaders Rochdale on January 30.
If Pools can come through that run relatively unscathed, then many of their fellow top seven contenders will have little choice but to sit up and take notice, with Featherstone calling on fans to stick with his side despite last weekend's bruising cup debacle.
"The message to the fans would be the same as what I say every week - just get behind the lads, support the lads, it is what it is," the Pools boss told the official club website.
"I can't say much to them, because they're feeling the same as me - they're embarrassed, they're angry.
"They pay a lot of money to come and watch their football club give it their all and I think we as a football club, as a team, as a group of staff and as a group of players have let them down.
"I promise, that can't happen again - that performance today cannot happen again."