Are Hartlepool United becoming a 'Dave Challinor side'? Pools boss assesses his squad after three months in charge

The Pools boss inherited a large squad of players when he took over as manager in November.

Now he’s into the fourth month of his tenure, Challinor feels he’s been able to embed some initial key principles while continuing to work on other areas.

When asked if Pools could now be classed as a ‘Dave Challinor team,’ the manager responded: “A little bit, there’s certainly more intent about us and we’re playing on the front foot.

“I want us to be a team who press and get in opposition’s faces if you like. I think we’re getting closer to that and the stuff we’ve done in training will encourage that more.

“It was never going to be a flick of the switch turnaround because as fit as players are, they’re not tuned to go and do the things required straight away.

“But they’ve responded really well and shown signs and there’s loads more to come. The players are doing as much as we’ve asked and we’re getting closer to where I want us to be.

“We’re still a work in progress, absolutely, but what we’ve got to do is get more belief because every team in this division has got a chance and it’s that wide open.

“If you can reproduce and concentrate on doing the basics well then you have a really good chance of winning a game and wins change the outlook really quickly.”