Hartlepool United caretaker manager Antony Sweeney feels upcoming matches against Notts County and Solihull Moors could set the tone for the season

Pools currently sit four points outside the play-off places and travel to seventh placed Notts County on Saturday afternoon (3pm kick-off) looking to make it four wins in a row for the first time in 14 months.

The Magpies have won six of their last eight matches in all competitions and go into the game on the back of a 4-0 victory at Woking on Tuesday night.

Pools then welcome last season’s National League runners-up Solihull Moors to Victoria Park on Bonfire Night.

The Moors currently sit just a point above United in the table going into this weekend’s round of fixtures.

And caretaker manager Antony Sweeney feels the upcoming games could help shape the club’s season.

“That’s the message to the players that if we win these next two then that’s a big step in the right direction,” Sweeney said.

“It will be a tough game on Saturday but if you want to get to where you want to be these are the games where, yeah three wins out of three is good and you’re getting the pats on the back, but if you go and make it four at Notts County, then people start really believing that you can do something, so that'll be the challenge to the players .

“Still, if it doesn't go well on Saturday that's not catastrophic, that is football it’s how you bounce back from that.

“If someone said you could win seven out of eight but you'd lose on Saturday you'd take that, it’s how you bounce back.

“You don't want to get too hung up on one result, you take it in blocks of results, we've done three, we want it to be four.

“If it’s not four then it’s the next game at Solihull we need to concentrate on.

“But I still believe in the players, I still believe that we've got enough to go to the likes of Notts County and to play Solihull at home and not only compete but take the game to them.”