Craig Hignett verdict on surprise package Woking and Hartlepool United's 'weird' Saturday night kick-off

The National League game, live on BT Sport, gets underway at 7.30pm after it was pushed back as a result of England hosting Bulgaria at teatime.

Craig Hignett has never been involved in a late kick-off on a Saturday night and while admitting it will feel ‘weird’, he insists his squad will be treating it as they would any other evening game.

“We’ll prepare for it as we would a midweek game with it being a 7:30pm kick-off which is weird for a Saturday night,” said Hignett.

“I’ve never been involved with anything that late on a Saturday night but we’ll just prepare for it like a normal midweek game.

“It’ll be a good game, I’ve watched a bit of Woking, they’ve had a fantastic start to the season and they’ll come up here full of confidence but so will we.

“They’ve got a fair distance to travel up here and I’m sure the atmosphere will be really good come 7:30pm.

“I have been surprised by their start, I think when you come up you don’t know what to expect with them.

“I think they’re part-time as well so for them to do what they’ve done is fantastic so they are a little bit of a surprise but having watched them, you can understand why they’ve got the results they have.

“They’re very workman like and organised, they’ll work hard for each other.

“Their start is down to hard work and doing things properly.

“They’ve let a few goals in so there’s certainly weaknesses there but overall the way they work for each other, get the ball in the box and be competitive winning the second ball, this is all the stuff you need to do and they’re good at that.”

The Pools boss hopes to see his side extend their three-game winning run in front of their home support and believes the first goal could prove key.

“We’ve gone ahead first in four games now and the Fylde game is the only one where we haven’t gone on to win it.”