Hartlepool United striker Alex Reid sends strong message ahead of much-anticipated visit of rivals Carlisle United
Hartlepool United striker Alex Reid is relishing the prospect of taking on promotion-chasing Carlisle United on Wednesday evening.
Pools are gearing up for one of their biggest games of the season as they prepare to entertain rivals Carlisle with plenty on the line for both sides.
Having come from two goals down to beat Solihull Moors, one of their direct rivals for a National League play-off place, on Saturday, Nicky Featherstone's side have the chance to take a big step towards the top seven after results went in their favour in the week.
With sixth-placed Forest Green Rovers 11 points clear of Pools and generally assumed to be beyond their reach at this stage of the season - that said, Robbie Savage's side are in the midst of an ill-timed slump and have picked up just one point from the last 15 available - most of the focus is on who looks set to claim the coveted seventh spot.
While Southend United, who are four points clear of Pools and have two games in hand, look to be in pole position at this stage, the Shrimpers were beaten 2-0 by Boreham Wood on Tuesday night and the Essex outfit haven't been in the best of form of late, losing three of their last five league matches.
Halifax Town, meanwhile, are four points clear of Featherstone's side but have played two games more and are winless in their last three, albeit the Shaymen scored two late goals to salvage a point against title-chasing Rochdale in the week.
Significantly, Southend have a really difficult run of games on the horizon, with the Shrimpers set to take on Carlisle, Forest Green and Rochdale - three of the top six - in their next five league matches. Perhaps even more importantly, both Southend and Halifax have to visit Victoria Park before the end of March.
Yet Pools will need to ensure they are still within striking distance as they gear up for what promises to be a hugely consequential run of three successive home games, with the visit of strugglers Sutton United next week sandwiched in-between huge matches against Carlisle and Halifax.
If Featherstone's side, who have won just six of their 18 home games this term, can pick up seven or even nine points from their next three matches, then Pools would propel themselves right into promotion contention. A couple of slip-ups, however, and their hopes of sneaking into the top seven will be all but extinguished.
Wednesday's clash with rivals Carlisle, who are bidding to engineer an immediate return to the Football League having suffered back-to-back relegations, has the feel of a big game for all sorts of reasons.
Pools know that a win against the big-spending Cumbrians would not only serve as a real statement of intent but move them to within a point of the play-off places, while defeat would hand the impetus back to their rivals.
With so much on the line, Reid and his teammates are likely expecting a red-hot atmosphere as two well-supported former Football League sides go head-to-head.
Although Pools were beaten 3-1 in the reverse back in October, Reid, who ended a run of four games without a goal by heading home from close range against Solihull last time out, insists he's relishing the prospect of entertaining one of the biggest and most well-resourced teams in the division on Wednesday evening.
"There's not a direct rivalry but there's a little bit of bite in the fixture," the 30-year-old said.
"They (Carlisle) are going to bring a lot of fans, they're a big club; they've just been relegated so it goes without saying that their sole target will be to try and get back out of this league as soon as they can.
"These are the games you want to play in. You want to play in every game, of course, but when you go out onto the pitch against the likes of York and Carlisle and there's six, seven thousand fans there and a big away following, that's what it's all about. We're expecting that kind of atmosphere, a big crowd and a big away following with a lot riding on the game; they're the games you want to be involved in at the end of the day.
"I think every game that they (Carlisle) play in, the pressure is on them; if they don't get promoted, it will look like a failure of a season. These are games that we relish and that I personally relish, so I'm excited."