Hartlepool United head coach hoping to galvanize his side as Pools look to put Rochdale defeat behind them

Pools suffered their worst defeat of the campaign in Greater Manchester and the heaviest loss of Limbrick's time in charge so far. Although there were some extenuating circumstances - Dale, who needed to win to secure a play-off place had far more on the line than Pools, who had endured another difficult week off the pitch - the manner of the capitulation was nonetheless difficult to justify, especially given the efforts of the more than 700 travelling fans.

Pools endured a similar experience last season when they were thrashed 7-1 by Gateshead on a miserable March evening, their heaviest defeat in almost 30 years. Then-manager Kevin Phillips used the result to demand a reaction from his side, who went on the beat play-off chasing Halifax less than a week later. Limbrick will surely be hoping for a similar sort of response this time around as Pools look to end an underwhelming season with at least a vestige of positivity.

Indeed, the Australian knows what it takes to galvanize a side following a heavy defeat. After taking charge of The New Saints in 2021, Limbrick suffered a 4-1 loss at the hands of Connah's Quay Nomads, a shocking result especially given the Shropshire outfit's dominance of the Cymru Premier over the last decade. However, perhaps using that result as fuel, Limbrick masterminded an unbeaten run from then until the end of the season - in fact, his side didn't even concede a goal in the final five games of the campaign - as TNS secured European qualification. While there is less at stake for Pools this season, Limbrick is hoping to engineer a similar sort of response against a Forest Green side who have different priorities of their own having secured a third placed finish and a home semi-final in the upcoming National League play-offs.

"We're all disappointed with the Rochdale game, myself, the staff and the players," he said.

"However, I think we need to also look at the positives of, for example, the Gateshead performance, which shows what we can do and how good we can be.

"We evaluate the result and the performance against Rochdale like we would do any other game, but also we want to look at how well we played against Gateshead, that can't be underestimated. I thought we were very, very good.

"We'll be looking at both of those games to use as motivation for Monday."

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