Wycombe Wanderers v Hartlepool United does not frighten Harry Worley

Pools go to Adams Park tomorrow as outsiders, even though the match pits third place against sixth.

The Chairboys are one of only five unbeaten sides in League Two, winning three of their five matches and drawing the other two.

It looks a big task for the visitors, especially given that Pools have lost back-to-back league games.

But Worley points out that Pools also made a similar start to the season as Gareth Ainsworth’s side, conceding just one goal in the first four fixtures.

“You can score a goal at any time,” said the defender who had the honour of captaining Pools in Tuesday night’s Johnstone’s Paint Trophy tie against Sheffield United.

“We were keeping clean sheeets and then we went and conceded two at Stevenage. It happens.

“Wycombe are going to concede at some point and hopefully it will be us that starts scoring against them.”

Worley says Pools can take some self-belief from Tuesday night’s tie at Victoria Park, where Scott Fenwick scored a brilliant second-half equaliser against the Blades.

Unfortunately for Ronnie Moore’s team, they were beaten 4-3 on penalties, but the stand-in skipper says confidence has risen on the back of their strong display after a rocky start.

“The way the first 15 minutes went, I thought it was going to be a long evening,” said the 24-year-old, who was making his return from an ankle injury picked up in the win at York.

“The gaffer then changed the formation and we managed to turn things around.

“They still had a few chances – we were playing Sheffield United after all – but from then on I thought we were quite comfortable.

“We were a bit unlucky at the end.

“It was like pre-season when we played Chesterfield. We lost 1-0, but, on another day, we could have scored and gone on to win.

“To play well against teams from the league above is obviously going to breed confidence.Wycombe are a good side who have carried things on from last season.

“Gareth Ainsworth has done a very good job, but there is no reason why we can’t go there and get a result.”

Worley’s return to the field was a welcome one, especially given that his replacement, Matthew Bates, was injured himself at Stevenage just a week later.

The tall centre-half was hurt when he was caught by a late challenge from Reece Thompson just four minutes into the game at Botham Crescent.

Worley had just cleared the ball when the York striker came flying in.

“It was a shocking tackle and I think I was really lucky that I was only out for two weeks,” he said.

“I was fortunate he did not have much body weight to be honest. My foot was planted into the ground and if he wasn’t as light as he was then it could have been worse.

“But Buster [Gallagher] has sorted me right out to get me back in a couple of weeks.”