Hartlepool United must show their 'mettle' in significant Salford City clash

Pools welcome Salford City to the Suit Direct Stadium this evening before the visit of Grimsby Town at the weekend in what appears to be a crucial few days for the club. Curle’s side are bottom of League Two with just one win in 15 games after their defeat at Swindon, with back-to-back home games now seen as an opportunity to get some points on the board before they start to potentially get cut adrift.

Pools have played a game more than most of their rivals in the bottom half of the table and Curle admits things may not be pretty but, ultimately, it’s about getting results.

“I know this is when we need to show our mettle and show what we’re about,” Curle told The Mail.

“The games might not be pretty but we’ve got to earn the right to get points.”

He added: “There are things we need to take out of the game [against Swindon] and there’s things we need to leave behind.

“We need to start the game better and we need to defend our goal better and we need to stop crosses better throughout the 90 minutes.

“[But] we take the positives. The effort and commitment I haven’t got a problem with that. We need to build on that and that is what is going to get us out of this.”