Hartlepool United manager Simon Grayson admits Aldershot Town "are very hard to read at times"
Hartlepool United manager Simon Grayson admits Aldershot Town "are very hard to read at times" ahead of Saturday's long trip to Hampshire.
Certainly, games involving the Shots don't tend to be short of excitement; Tommy Widdrington's side are the National League's highest scorers, having found the net 22 times in their opening nine games, but also have the third leakiest defence in the division.
Pools, meanwhile, have found goals hard to come by of late and have failed to score in three of their last four games, including last weekend's disappointing goalless draw with newly-promoted Brackley, which Grayson slammed as "the worst performance we've had since I've been here". Having started the season so well, picking up 10 points from the first 12 available, Pools have slipped out of the play-off places after a frustrating run of five games without a win. Of course, there have still been lots of positives from the opening weeks of the campaign, not least a rock solid defensive record, but a lack of goals is beginning to become a bit of a concern. If Pools, who have scored just nine times in their first nine games, can start to get their out of sorts front line firing once again, then there's no reason Grayson's side can't be a serious promotion contender this season.
Saturday's game against an unpredictable Aldershot side, then, could well be the perfect opportunity for Pools to end their recent winless run. A back line which might be without the impressive Reiss McNally, who trudged off late on last weekend and is awaiting the results of a scan, will have to be at their best against a free-scoring Shots attack, but Pools can be confident of having chances to end their goal drought at the EBB Stadium.
"Look, it's another team that are very hard to read at times," Grayson told the official Pools club website.
"They've scored lots of goals, they've conceded lots of goals. They're very attack-minded, they throw bodies forward and play a different system to a lot of other teams. We've done all the work that we needed to do, it's no different to if we were playing Forest Green, York, Carlisle or Rochdale. We've done work on ourselves, we've done work on the opposition; I don't think we can do too much more in terms of preparation for the game, now we've got to go back out onto the grass and make sure we put on a really spirited performance and put to rest a little bit of how we played last week. I'm sure the players will do that because they've got a strong mentality and lots of determination. They know they didn't play well enough last week, and they've got a chance to correct it."
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