Hartlepool United's Boxing Day hero Callum Cooke hoping to put things right at home starting with Mansfield Town

Pools welcome Mansfield Town to close out 2022 before opening the New Year against Harrogate Town as they look to build momentum following two away successes against Crawley Town and Rochdale.

Cooke was on target when curling in a delightful free kick to seal all three points against Rochdale on Boxing Day while the former Bradford City man assisted Hartlepool’s three other goals against Crawley and Rochdale as he begins to find his feet in a Hartlepool shirt following his summer switch.

And Cooke is hoping Hartlepool can continue to put things right on home soil after their last outing at the Suit Direct Stadium ended in a 5-0 humbling against Stockport County.

“It’s a massive opportunity. If anybody had said to us before these two home games, if we can get through the two away games with some positive results and look to them two home games to pick up results then you’d have taken it,” Cooke told The Mail.

“Nobody probably expected us to win at Crawley. Nobody would have expected us to win here [at Rochdale], the bookies wouldn't have, so we’ve surprised a few people and now we have to put it right at home.

“That’s the only missing link now. You saw the missing link with the fans [at full-time] so hopefully we can get it back at the Suit Direct.”

Pools welcome a Mansfield side currently sitting sixth in the League Two table as they look to go one better than last season’s narrow play-off final miss.

But Nigel Clough’s side arrive slightly out of form having won just three of their last 10 league games - the same as Curle’s Hartlepool.

And while Cooke appreciates the significance of Hartlepool taking points off their relegation rivals, he admits they need to look to take points from every game they go into.

“We go into every game wanting to win but obviously there’s an extra bit of needle added to it when we’ve got teams around us,” said Cooke.

“If we can continue to beat the teams around us then that’s massive. I think we’ve got Gillingham coming up soon, so there’s another big game if you like. But it’s not just about picking up results with the teams around us, it’s about picking up results against your Mansfield’s.

He added: “This is done now, we’re going to get back into training and focus on Mansfield.

“They’re a good side. They were 2-0 up against us at their place and, again, credit to us, credit to Josh [Umerah], he got the two goals that night. He was unbelievable, he was unplayable, and hopefully he can do that again for us.

“I’m expecting a difficult test. Every game is a test. But with the momentum we’re starting to build, being back at home and having our home crowd behind us, I think we should give them a really good game and hopefully pick up another three points.”