Hartlepool United captain determined to avoid repeat of FA Cup humiliation as Pools prepare to kick-off Trophy campaign
Hartlepool United captain Tom Parkes is determined to avoid a repeat of October's humiliating FA Cup exit when Pools kick-off their FA Trophy campaign at home to Northern Premier League Division One Midlands side Anstey Nomads on Saturday.
A lot has changed since Pools were dumped out of the FA Cup at the fourth qualifying round stage by Northern Premier League Premier Division outfit Gainsborough Trinity, new manager Nicky Featherstone's first game in interim charge.
In the wake of what was considered by many fans to be one of the club's worst night's in recent history, few could have foreseen the remarkable turnaround in both results and performances inspired by Featherstone, who was appointed Pools boss until the end of the season last week.
Having been humbled in the cup three days after the sudden sacking of Simon Grayson, Featherstone led Pools on an impressive run of four wins and three defeats from seven National League matches, doing enough to land the manager's job ahead of "a review of performance" at the end of the campaign while revitalising his side's faltering play-off push.
Even so, Featherstone, who is the club's third highest appearance-maker of all-time and has spent more than a decade at Victoria Park, will be all too aware of divisive chairman and owner Raj Singh's notorious lack of patience when it comes to hiring and firing managers.
That means Featherstone can ill-afford too many more slip-ups after his permanent tenure began in underwhelming fashion as Pools fell to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of a resurgent Yeovil last time out.
Certainly, Featherstone will be desperate to avoid another embarrassing cup upset against an Anstey side who have reached the third round of the Trophy for the first time in their entire history.
In many ways, Saturday's game has the feel of a lose-lose for Pools; progress to the next round, and it will merely be considered what was expected of them against lower league opposition, while defeat would invite major criticism and would represent a considerable blot on the new manager's copybook.
Yet, as Featherstone has pointed out, the Trophy also represents one of the club's best chances to reach Wembley Stadium for the first time in their entire history.
While a trip to the capital might still be a long way off, Parkes, who has been a regular in the side under Featherstone but could well be in line for a rest this weekend, insists Pools are determined to avoid another humbling exit when they begin their Trophy campaign at the weekend.
"We know that when we played Gainsborough in the FA Cup it wasn't good enough," the Pools skipper told The Red Radio.
"We didn't perform well enough; the replay was a difficult situation and we had a lot of injuries as well.
"We don't want to fall into that trap again, we want to make sure we can get the job done and get into the next round."