Hartlepool United interim boss Lennie Lawrence challenges new manager to get more out of current Pools squad

Pools showed flashes of promise in the opening weeks of the campaign and picked up seven points from their first three matches and there is a sense that there's plenty of untapped potential within the group.

Whoever replaces Darren Sarll, who was sacked last week following a miserable run of just one win in seven games, will be taking on a tough challenge.

Pools are searching for their 15th permanent manager in nine years and it seems as though the role has become a bit of a poisoned chalice.

Supporters who have spent almost their entire lives watching their side in the Football League - less than 20 years ago, Pools were 10 minutes away from promotion to the Championship - will accept nothing less than a play-off push and there is not a lot of patience left among the frustrated fanbase.

Yet the National League is more competitive than ever and there are a whole host of former Football League sides vying for one automatic promotion spot while the likes of Eastleigh and Solihull Moors are bidding to reach League Two for the first time in their history.

While the next manager will have to contend with challenges on and off the pitch, Pools remains an attractive proposition for some candidates.

The club has considerable potential and one of the league's most committed and dedicated fan bases while Dave Challinor showed just what can be achieved when supporters, staff and the playing squad are all pulling in the same direction.

Although Pools are already out of the FA Cup and are languishing in 17th in the National League, they are just six points off the play-off spots and there is still enough time to turn this season around.

When Pools do announce their next appointment, the incoming manager will inherit a squad with plenty of talent but a group low on confidence following a bruising start to the campaign.

Kevin Phillips, who won four of his first five games after his appointment in January, proved an instantaneous turnaround in performances and results is certainly not impossible and the next man through the door will be looking to do something similar.

Whoever that is, one of their first priorities will surely be restoring some confidence to a squad who have looked a bit out of ideas in recent weeks.

And Lawrence thinks that the new manager's future success will depend on whether or not he can get more out of the current crop of players.

"It's just about getting the best out of the players we've got," he said.

"We've got a deep enough squad - the owner has provided a perfectly good budget, and we've got a good enough squad.

"It's just a question of getting the most out of those players, getting them performing to the best of their ability.

"We need a way of playing that suits these players.

"Some days, you've got to be resilient, you've got to be able to defend set-plays and other days, you need that flair and creativity that some of our other players offer - some days, you need both.

"We've got to mount a play-off challenge, that's got to be the target.

"To do that, we've got to win two or three games on the trot and the results have got to be a little bit better than they've been."