Hartlepool United manager Craig Hignett on his frustrations from the opening matches as he looks to develop consistency in his side

Hartlepool United manager Craig Hignett admits his side haven’t done what he thought they would in their opening four matches of the season.
Craig Higgnett before the Vanarama National League match between Maidenhead United and Hartlepool United at York Road, Maidenhead on Saturday 10th August 2019. (Credit: Ian Randall | MI News)Craig Higgnett before the Vanarama National League match between Maidenhead United and Hartlepool United at York Road, Maidenhead on Saturday 10th August 2019. (Credit: Ian Randall | MI News)
Craig Higgnett before the Vanarama National League match between Maidenhead United and Hartlepool United at York Road, Maidenhead on Saturday 10th August 2019. (Credit: Ian Randall | MI News)

Pools lost their opening two matches before winning at Maidenhead United and drawing against AFC Fylde at Victoria Park on Tuesday night.

And the United manager feels their four point return isn’t what he was expecting going into Saturday’s match against Bromley (3pm kick-off).

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“I’ve got belief in what we are as a team and what we can do, the frustrating thing is we haven’t done what I thought in the first four games but I think the last two games have been fine and we should have had six points but we haven’t which is disappointing but we go into Bromley with confidence.

“We know we’re playing alright, we know on another day we would have came away with the three points on Tuesday and I don’t want to harp on about referee decisions but I am going to because you can’t get things like that wrong, not things that give teams lifelines.

“If they don’t score on 82 minutes, we don’t get nervy and they probably don’t get the second one, they probably give up and we get the third.

“But that’s the way it’s going at the minute and it’s costing us but we’ve got to keep going and improving.”

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Hignett also feels his side are showing signs of developing that all important level of consistency.

“I think we are, apart from the half at Sutton, we’ve been consistent in what we’ve done,” he added.

“We’ve had different game plans and different formations and to a certain extent it’s worked.

People like to see us on the front foot and keeping the ball, some games we’ll be able to do that but other games we’ll need to be disciplined and we need to be defensively sound and keep spaces tight.

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“We did that the other night but still looked really dangerous and created a lot of chances.

“We’ve got different ways we can play so as long as we keep working and keep understanding what kind of team we are so that all helps.”