Hartlepool United manager Dave Challinor hoping for ‘a little bit of luck’ to secure first away win at Sutton United

Pools travel to South London this evening to face fellow newly promoted side Sutton United in League Two (7:45pm kick-off).

The U’s won the National League title after beating Hartlepool 3-0 at Gander Green Lane last season.

Dave Challinor’s side would go on to secure promotion a month later and have settled into life back in the Football League fairly seamlessly. A win for Pools tonight will see them climb up to second in the table after seven games.

Sutton have found things slightly more difficult having just picked up their first win of the new season after beating Stevenage 2-1 on Saturday afternoon. And Pools have never tasted victory at Sutton in four attempts with three draws and a defeat.

“It’s a tough game and we’ll have to defend well at Sutton,” Challinor said. “You look at the step up in levels and Sutton are a threat in forward areas and they will be direct and get the ball forward to cause problems.

“The minimum we have to do is deal with that if we’re going to get anything from the game.

“Our mindset will be around doing the basics and keeping a clean sheet which will give us a good chance of winning the game. But we know we’ll have to be right at it.”

While Pools’ home form is perfect with four wins from four, they are still yet to pick up a point on the road so far this season.

“We played better at Tranmere than we did against Bristol Rovers, we created more and looked more comfortable but we lost last week but won this week,” Challinor said.

"If there was a huge variation in performances, then I’d look at shape and personnel but the only thing that is missing away from home is results and this is a results business.

"We just need a little bit of luck to get a result. We’ll keep doing what we’re doing and make sure we cut out the poor goals we’ve conceded away from home.

"We can’t get too bogged down thinking we’re awful away from home because our performances have been steady, we just need a win.”

A message from the Football Clubs Editor

Our aim is to provide you with the best, most up-to-date and most informative Hartlepool United coverage 365 days a year.

This depth of coverage costs, so to help us maintain the high-quality reporting that you are used to, please consider taking out a subscription to our new sports-only package here.

Your support is much appreciated. Richard Mennear, Football Clubs Editor