Hartlepool United's mediocre FA Cup exit highlights Keith Curle's squad limitations and January transfer demand

Keith Curle's side were mediocre as they failed to land a glove on the Potters who were helped on their way by two own goals from Hartlepool as they strolled into the fourth round of the FA Cup with little in the way of a sweat worked up.

Unlike 12-months ago, where Hartlepool were triumphant in their third round tie with Blackpool, here they lacked that oomph factor required as an underdog to spring a surprise.

There was no bite or purpose to their attacks, with Josh Umerah an isolated figure in trying to chase down a composed back three of Stoke. But throughout the team, and even in the stands, there was no juice in Hartlepool. Against Blackpool, even at 1-0 down, there was always that sense of hope, that ‘you never know’ feeling pitted in your stomach.

As soon as Euan Murray put through his own net inside the opening quarter-of-an-hour, you pretty much knew the tie was over. It kind of shows where the club is at currently, and how much it has fallen over the course of the last year.

Alex Neil suggested his side should probably have scored six, and it’s hard to argue against that with Liam Delap, Josh Laurent and three times Dwight Gayle all spurning good opportunities, while Hartlepool failed to register a single effort on target at Jack Bonham’s goal.

In contrast, when taking on Championship side Blackpool at the same stage 12 months ago, Pools registered six attempts on target when coming from behind to seal a 2-1 victory.

But, in essence, this wasn’t really Hartlepool’s cup fixture. That comes next in the league against Gillingham. Yet what this 3-0 defeat to Stoke did was re-emphasise just how short Curle is when it comes to the options within his squad.

While it was a nice moment for academy trio Louis Stephenson and, particularly, Joe Kitching and Campbell Darcy to come on against the Championship side, it just shows how light the Hartlepool squad is.

With Brody Paterson sealing a move to Cove Rangers, his space on the bench was free for another academy star in Max Storey. Throw in young goalkeeper Patrick Boyes and of Curle’s nine substitutes you had three 16-year-old’s, a 17-year-old and a 20-year-old, who is yet to make a senior appearance, with Joe Grey also only 19-years-old.

And what’s worrying is that, with Paterson now gone, Mikael Ndjoli seemingly out of favour and injuries to the likes of Jamie Sterry and Mouhamed Niang, some of these players are likely to be involved in the league squad ahead of time.

Curle has made moves in the opening week of the transfer window with Matt Dolan and Peter Hartley completing moves to the Suit Direct Stadium, with the Pools boss confident of further arrivals before the trip to the Priestfield.

But when chairman Raj Singh suggested to fan groups recently ‘we will probably need four or five players who are going to make us better,’ the reality is they may well need more than that.