Hartlepool United manager Darren Sarll insists strong defensive foundations will be key to his side's success

The boss has made it his priority to improve his new side's defensive record after the back line leaked 82 National League goals in 46 games last season, shipping seven at local rivals Gateshead and keeping just four clean sheets.

It's worth noting that three of those four shutouts came after experienced defenders Luke Waterfall and Tom Parkes, two shrewd acquisitions by head of football Joe Monks, arrived in January.

Kevin Phillips, for all he was criticised for changing his side's shape ahead of their mauling at Gateshead, which he described as one of the worst days of his life, also deserves credit for his role in making Pools a bit more solid at the back.

However, it probably wouldn't be unfair to say that Pools were a different beast during their National League opener in Somerset as Sarll got one over on one of his former sides.

The visitors were noticeably more proactive in how they defended, with attackers Adam Campbell, Luke Charman and Joe Grey all impressing with the work rate and willingness to track forward runners.

In midfield, Jack Hunter and Nathan Sheron enjoyed outstanding debuts, influencing the game at both ends of the pitch and making Pools much more solid in the engine room, with Sheron in particular setting the tone with some strong challenges.

Behind them, Pools have a formidable looking back four, with Waterfall and Parkes sandwiched between David Ferguson, who boasts 194 appearances in blue and white and was almost ever-present the last time Pools won promotion from this level, and Dan Dodds, who impressed on his return to competitive action for the first time in 350 days.

The one area of slight concern remains in goal, where Joel Dixon got the nod ahead of new signing Adam Smith.

Pools have been on the hunt for a goalkeeper all summer and it's unclear whether or not Smith was on their initial list of targets, although the Sunderland-born stopper knows Sarll well, having played under him at Yeovil.

It was, therefore, a slight surprise to see the embattled Dixon, who was transfer-listed in April, start in Somerset although the 30-year-old came through the test relatively unscatched, keeping his second Pools clean sheet on his 27th start despite one nervous moment at the end when he fumbled a cross deep into added time.

Sarll can also call on decent defensive options on the bench, with popular teenage full-back Louis Stephenson and centre-halves Billy Sass-Davies and Manny Onariase all helping Pools see the game out in the second half.

And while the new boss is well aware of the attacking talent he has at his disposal, he insists that Pools must ensure they keep things tight at the back before there's too much talk of being overly expansive at the top end of the pitch.

"We conceded 82 goals last season, that's a clear problem," he said.

"We have to reverse the objective evidence that we are easy to score against.

"Then we have to reverse the feeling that Hartlepool are easy to score against.

"I never turned up to Hartlepool thinking I was going to get an easy afternoon, it should be the worst Saturday of that's team's life. We have to make it as such.

"I'm not sure where we are in our development as a team yet and whether we can start opening up really soon.

"The compactness of the team, and the fact that we can, hopefully, keep lots of clean sheets should give confidence to our forwards that they only need to take one chance and that they can have that freedom where they know that, if they do miss one, the defence isn't going to go and concede three or four.

"We're trying to just create that mentality. Players will always adopt the methods of the manager if they understand it gets them to winning quickly, so hopefully Yeovil gets us a little bit further in that.

"In the games where we do have a poor defensive performance, I do believe we have the attacking quality to score more than our opponents. We have a lot of technical ability.

"I think a lot of Mark Cooper's teams, I really do, and I've got a connection to this club but I just thought it was right that we make ourselves really compact.

"At some point, someone will make a mistake or we'll turn the ball over and I know, when Adam Campbell, Joe Grey, Luke Charman or Anthony Mancini are in possession, I know we'll have a chance.

"The big thing is to try and keep the game in front of us so we've got something to attack late on."