Hartlepool United face 'massive' December with games against relegation rivals including Crawley Town, Newport County, Rochdale and Harrogate Town

Curle has taken charge of 10 league games since his appointment as interim manager in September, taking just eight points.

It’s a run which has seen Hartlepool drop to the bottom of the League Two table, two points adrift of safety ahead of the return of Dave Challinor with Stockport County.

Beyond Challinor’s return, however, Pools have fixtures with four of the current bottom seven teams between now and New Year’s Day with trips to Crawley Town and Rochdale alongside home encounters with Newport County and Harrogate Town.

It’s a run of games where Hartlepool need to put a significant haul of points on the board if they are to avoid being cut adrift heading into a crucial January transfer window.

“It will be a massive month for us but I’m hoping we’ll have maybe four or five players back available in that period,” Curle told The Mail.

“Then you come into the opportunity of the January window whereby players can be available, not only to come in but also players can be made available to go back or to go out which can see a transformation in the team and change the mind-set and change the performance levels.”

Curle added: “We need to have a level of consistency in our performances. They can’t play for 45 minutes in games. We need to be more competitive right from the off.”

Pools were able to put some of that consistency together last time out in the FA Cup when producing their performance of the season against Harrogate in a 3-1 win.

But Curle knows he will need to see similar from his side if they are to continue the momentum against Stockport.

“We only take one game at a time. We’re straight back into it. Saturday this place will be bouncing, not only because of the welcome the fans will be forwarding the previous manager, but because it's a game and an opportunity for us,” said Curle.

“Again, we’ve started the engine, now can we get the wheels rolling?”

But despite what has been an indifferent period, Curle admits he does not feel pressure by the job at hand.

The interim boss revealed after the recent defeat at Barrow he remains confident he will keep Hartlepool in the Football League this season - something which will be aided by a positive December.

“Pressure? I think pressure is three kids, a mortgage and no job. That’s pressure,” Curle told The Mail.

“We’ve got to win games of football. I don’t see that as pressure. It’s part and parcel of our job.

“The first person I look at is myself on every occasion. Did I get the team selection right? Did I get the tactics right within the game plan? I’ve got no problem asking myself those questions.

"I’ve got to do my job to the best of my ability which is getting the best and maximising what I’ve got available at this time. Do I thrive on that? It gets me out of bed in the morning with a spring in my step.”