Hartlepool United 'deserved more' against Leyton Orient after Connor Jennings' late equaliser

Askey watched his side earn a point against the table-topping O’s after Connor Jennings cancelled out Paul Smyth’s goal nine minutes from time.

Smyth fired the away side in front early in the second half as Pools looked set to taste defeat for the first time under Askey.

That was until Jennings was able to calmly convert Josh Umerah’s cut-back into the area to find the bottom corner of Lawrence Vigouroux’s goal.

And Hartlepool can count themselves unfortunate not to have taken all three points with yet another spirited display under Askey having also struck the woodwork twice in the closing stages.

Wes McDonald fired low across the area to hit the foot of the post before, moments later, former Orient midfielder Dan Kemp rattled the bar from Jamie Sterry’s cross.

But despite feeling disappointed at having to settle for a fifth consecutive draw, Askey praised his players - admitting they could give no more.

“We’re disappointed we’ve not got the three points. I thought we deserved it,” said Askey.

“We finished the game really strongly and there was only one team going to win it in the end.

“If anyone was a neutral who didn’t know, then you wouldn’t know who was top and who was at the bottom.

“There was very little between the two teams and I’ve said that to the players; I can’t believe where they are [in the league] with the quality that we’ve got in the team.

“I just feel for the players," he added.

"They put in a lot of effort again and not only was there a lot of effort, there was a lot of quality again and a lot of good performances.

“It’s obviously disappointing that, again, they’ve played well and they’ve only got a point to show for it.

“We can’t be too down and we should again take confidence from it. We’re playing a team who are top of the league and have looked the best team this season.

“We’ve had tough fixtures and we’ve been unlucky that we haven’t won one or two of them.”