Hartlepool United verdict: Carlisle United defeat is disappointing but there remains a bigger picture

Although there was some trepidation about the trip to Cumbria to take on a Carlisle side harbouring promotion aspirations, there may still have been some quiet optimism following an imperative 2-0 win over Rochdale.

Those hopes are likely to have expired inside six minutes, however, as the home side took an early lead through Morgan Feeney.

Carlisle had lost just once at home this season under Paul Simpson as he continued his superb turnaround at Brunton Park.

When the two sides last met in Cumbria, a year and six days ago in a goalless draw, Carlisle were 19th with 27 points from that, their 25th game. Tuesday’s three points moved them on to 45 in 26 games this campaign.

That is the kind of turnaround Keith Curle will be hoping he can implement at the Suit Direct Stadium but in order to do that, the first objective will be to retain the clubs status in the Football League.

And, while any points are good points in that regard, fixtures away to promotion chasing teams are unlikely to be what decides Hartlepool’s fate this season.

There may come a time where Curle’s side will need to go somewhere and pick up a surprise result, but much of that will also depend on how results go in the games which really matter against their relegation rivals - one of those coming next against Colchester.

And you could sense that fixture, rightly or wrongly, was on the mind of Curle throughout the evening at Brunton Park.

Curle left Jamie Sterry out of his starting line-up, erring on the side of caution following his recent injury record, with the full-back likely to be back involved at the weekend.

At 3-1 down, with 10 minutes remaining, Curle withdrew his captain, Nicky Featherstone, and January signing Matt Dolan. The message, at that point, was clear.

Curle also left out forward Joe Grey from his starting line-up as he altered his approach - Mouhamed Niang his replacement to offer energy in the midfield area instead.

“We’re trying to get Senna involved in action areas. He’s a competitor. He finds that extra yard and he wants to compete,” said Curle.

“We know we’ve got the two sitting midfield players and they need legs and energy in front of them to try and disrupt the play.”

But it was an experiment which never really worked, with Niang showing signs of ring-rust on his first start in three months having been out of action with a hamstring problem.

Perhaps, then, it reinforced what more is needed ahead of the transfer deadline.

Curle has confirmed the club are in talks with a number of strikers, among others, and they, much like the result against Colchester, could go some way to determining their league status.

Hartlepool have performed both better and worse than this but, like any defeat, the defeat at Carlisle was disappointing. Just how disappointing may be determined by the bigger picture, and the outcome, of the next few days.