Hartlepool United defender Gary Liddle anticipating frosty debrief from manager Dave Challinor following Gateshead defeat

The Pools boss is set to speak with his players for the first time since the defeat on Monday morning.

And Liddle is expecting a strongly worded debrief as the side reflect on Saturday’s match at the International Stadium.

“You definitely feel the disappointment, the manager won’t allow it to be shrugged off and I think the fact he didn’t come in after the game tells its own story,” Liddle told The Mail.

"We’ll go over things on Monday and fingers will be pointed which is how he is. He’s said himself that he’s an emotional guy and he’ll call people out.

"I think after a defeat like that and the one at Spennymoor, it needs to be done. The quicker people learn the better, it doesn’t get any easier and lessons need to be learned quickly.”

Reflecting on the side’s defensive performance, Liddle added: “I don’t know what went wrong really, Gateshead are a good team and were a lot better than us that’s for sure.

"Their movement caused us problems and they played a few formations during the game which confused us a little bit defensively. These are things we’ll look over in the video and the mistakes we’ve made will be highlighted so we can rectify it.”

Pools’ pre-season schedule moves on quickly as they make the journey to Croft Park to take on Micky Nelson’s Blyth Spartans on Tuesday night (7pm kick-off) before travelling to Dunston UTS on Friday (7pm kick-off).

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