Hartlepool United captain Ryan Donaldson opens up about reaction to Craig Hignett's sacking building up to Aldershot win

Pools skipper Ryan Donaldson admitted the dismissal hit the squad hard but the way they responded at the EBB Stadium on Saturday was ‘perfect’.

“It was tough, just because of the esteem we held the gaffer and Ged,” he admitted.

“Just because they were two men who wanted the best for us and the club which you don’t always get.

“Everyone was gutted which is rare in football when a manager gets sacked.

“We’ve all been in the game long enough to know these things happen. The chairman and Mark have made a tough decision after an unacceptable first half performance on Wednesday.

“It hurts because you take a portion of the blame as a squad but the way we’ve responded was perfect. It’s never easy because you always feel as though you’ve left them down, especially when you have as much respect and admiration as we did.

“The bus journey down was a bit sombre and we just had a meeting on Friday night and said that if we can give Ged and the gaffer anything then a win today might cheer them up a little bit.

“We had so much respect for them, it’s been a tough couple of days for the squad and I thought we were well worthy of the win in the end.

“But there was a real determination about us to get a result at Aldershot and show that the work we have been doing has been good and we’re not far away.”

Donaldson also feels Hignett and McNamee can take some credit for the win for the work they did not only at the club but their conduct since leaving.

“We got a message from them this morning which was really good of them to do that and it gave us the lift that we needed,” Donaldson added.

“I’d just want to say thanks to those two for the work that they’ve done because they couldn’t have worked harder for us.”