Hartlepool United face 'massive' week with back-to-back home fixtures starting with Newport County visit

Keith Curle’s side remain precariously placed in the League Two table, just one point and one place above the relegation zone, with Crawley Town holding three games in hand over Pools.

That will stretch to four games in hand after Hartlepool face Newport, with Crawley not back in action until the weekend when they face Carlisle United, which means the fixture with Newport represents an opportunity for Pools to put a little bit of distance between themselves and Crawley.

“It’s a massive week,” Curle told The Mail.

“We know we’ve got players in the team who have got ability and can go and express themselves and win games.

“We’ve got to earn the right to win games of football. Sometimes that means you’ve got to do the horrible side of the game well rather than being open and expansive.”

Pools arrive off the back of a dramatic conclusion to the game with AFC Wimbledon at the weekend.

Having found themselves 2-0 behind, Hartlepool rescued an unlikely point thanks to Dan Kemp’s excellent double.

“It’s a point gained on the road and it sets us up for a good battling game [on Tuesday],” Curle said after the draw with AFC Wimbledon.

“It’s going to need a mental approach to earn the right to play our football. We’ve got to go toe-to-toe on Tuesday.

“[Against AFC Wimbledon] we didn’t do it for long enough. We didn’t maintain enough pressure, we didn’t maintain enough possession of the ball in the right areas.

“Physically I felt we got aggressive after the ball. I want us to be aggressive when the ball is there because you’ll get more chances of winning.

“They had one or two balls into the box and a couple of scares, but then we were the masters of our own downfall by playing the wrong ball at the wrong time into the wrong area.

“We’re learning and developing. It's gaining that understanding of what good looks like and how we maintain good.

“We know we’ve got a goal threat. But we’ve got to learn to play League Two football sometimes and do the horrible stuff.”