Hartlepool United interim manager Sweeney on Wycombe Wanderers and ‘tough’ FA Cup second round draw at Lincoln City

Pools go into replay at Adams Park against the League One side as clear underdogs following the 2-2 draw at Victoria Park just over a week ago.

But they have the ‘carrot’, if you can call it that, of £22,629 of prize money and a second round tie at League One Lincoln City to look forward to should they be able to beat Wycombe.

"It’s a tough draw for us, tough to get through,” Hartlepool interim manager Antony Sweeney admitted.

“It’s never easy in the competition but if you want to get to the stages we want to, we have to expect to come up against these sort of teams.

"Having said that, Lincoln shouldn’t be on anyone’s mind at the moment because we’ve got a really tough game at Wycombe first and our away form isn’t great so that will be really difficult too.

"It’s a chance for us to go there with minimal pressure or expectation but there is a belief and an expectancy within the group itself for us to perform because if we do that we’re more than capable of winning.”

The previous meeting between the sides saw Pools match Wycombe throughout as The Chairboys had to twice come from behind to force a replay. Pools were left feeling frustrated as to how they didn't progress on the day.

But instead of it becoming another hard-luck story, Sweeney wants his players to take confidence from the match into Tuesday’s replay.

“We should take confidence from the last match,” he added. “Wycombe were a difficult side to play against and we matched them.

"The fact we went toe to toe with a difficult League One team and played some good football that left us disappointed not to win the tie outright, that bodes well for us.

"But they’ll have some important players back for the replay and it’s a new game and another opportunity to impress and hopefully get through to the next round of the competition.”

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