Lee Clark makes 'tough' admission after Hartlepool United win against Woking

Lee Clark reflected on ‘a tough few days’ after Hartlepool United edged out National League rivals Woking at Victoria Park and ended a run of three consecutive defeats.

Pools had started Clark’s first season in charge in impressive fashion with wins against Barrow and Aldershot Town in the opening week of the season - but defeats against Sutton United, Eastleigh and FC Halifax Town raised the pressure ahead of Saturday’s home clash with the Cards.

It wasn’t always pretty - but Clark’s man managed to come out on the right end of the result as summer signing Chris Popov grabbed his first goal for the club with a scrappy effort in the second-half to ensure his side returned to winning ways. Clark admitted both he, his staff and his players had endured a difficult week ahead of the win and repeated his determination to give Pools fans ‘a team worthy of them’.

Speaking after the win, the Pools boss said: “I’ve got to be honest, it’s been a tough few days for myself, it’s been a tough few days for my staff and my players. We’ve been hurting because I know the history of this football club, like I said when I came in, I know what the fans want and I know what they deserve. Even though we’ve had good performances in those previous three games, we’ve ultimately lost them and we want to give them a team worthy of them. That’s been tough over the last couple of days and I wanted to make sure we got those three points today and get the belief back and the confidence back. The lads are a terrific bunch of players, a great group, the whole squad, not just the 11 that start.”

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‘I had a great belief’

Clark revealed his staff and playing squad held ‘a really honest meeting’ just days before the win as they looked to take the first steps in moving on from their poor run of form. The former Newcastle United and Sunderland midfielder had delivered a frustrated response to their midweek defeat against Halifax as his players produced a disappointing display at The Shay. However, the Pools boss admitted he had been heartened by the response to their meeting and that allowed him to go into Saturday’s game against Woking with ‘great belief’ that his side would come out on top and return to winning ways in front of the Victoria Park faithful.

He said: “I can’t portray that to the players, I’m the leader of the group so I’ve got to be positive. We had a really honest meeting on Thursday morning and lads were so receptive to it. The response on Thursday and Friday was fantastic and I knew today, that we would win, it’s easy to say that in hindsight - but I had a great belief we would. I didn’t think it be as tight as it would be and we would be relying on a mistake in the last kick of the game.”

Your next Hartlepool United read: Popov the match-winner as Hartlepool United grind out three points against Woking