'It's life' - Adam Clayton opens up on Hartlepool United expectations
Hartlepool United slipped into the National League relegation zone following their defeat at Scunthorpe United on Saturday.
Adam Clayton has called on Hartlepool United players to ‘stay strong’ as they look to push away from the National League relegation zone over the coming days and weeks.
After suffering defeats against the likes of Kidderminster Harriers, Altrincham and Worthing over the last three weeks, Pools dropped into the bottom four in non-league’s top tier for the first time this season following Saturday’s 4-1 loss at Scunthorpe United.
That is all a far cry from the excitement and belief that were prominent in the first week of the season as wins against Barrow and Aldershot Town fuelled expectation Pools could be challenging for a return to the EFL come the end of the campaign. After being named as part of the club’s interim management team, Clayton has insisted the expectation for progress is a positive - but urged the Pools players to ‘be as positive as they can be’ during a difficult time.
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Speaking ahead of Tuesday night’s home game with Harrogate Town, he told BBC Radio Tees: “I think the expectation of playing for Hartlepool, I played up here for years [at Middlesbrough], it’s life up here, football is life up here, which is the best thing. In the good times, it’s amazing. In the tough times, it’s tough and I think if you add the expectation of the signings we’ve made in the summer, etc, there was a lot of expectation on us to go and blow it away in the first ten games.
“Then you go and win the first two and it’s ‘I can’t see us losing’. We have taken it too difficult losing a few games - but it’s seven now and that’s far too many for a team of our level. We have to man up, we have to go again, we have to stay strong and we have got to be as positive as you can possibly be. We know they [the fans] will come to the stadium again on Tuesday night and if we can start in the first 20 minutes and get a goal, they will come with us. You have got to hang on to anything you can.”
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