John Askey examines Hartlepool United's continued issues after yet more set piece frailties in Kidderminster draw

Hartlepool were left scratching their heads a little on the way home from Worcestershire after they had to make do with a point against Kidderminster following a 1-1 draw.

Pools had been hoping to build on their morale-boosting display and result against York City only to find themselves coming unstuck from a familiar source after they were pegged back by Amari Morgan-Smith’s header from another set piece routine.

It has been the main issue plaguing Askey’s side throughout the campaign with Pools amongst the league’s bottom five teams when it comes to goals conceded – a large portion of those coming from set pieces or balls into the box.

Despite taking the lead inside the opening 10 minutes at Aggborough when Tom Crawford’s low cross was diverted into his own net by Harriers defender Reiss McNally, Hartlepool’s achilles heel troubled them again on the half hour when Morgan-Smith glanced in Jack Lambert’s corner almost unchallenged at the front post, with Pools unable to convert a flurry of chances in the second half to restore their lead.

And although there are countless hours spent working on defending set pieces in training each week, Askey's side seem unable to find the solution.

"There’s more time spent on them than we should have to spend on them, and that’s been from day one,” Askey conceded.

"There’s only so much you can do. With the modern game now, there’s so much analysis that everybody knows who they’re picking up and what the opposition set pieces are going to be mainly. So not to put it into practice, it comes down to the person who should be marking.

"They’ve got to be stronger and have got to make contact with people, but I’ve been saying it since the first game of the season, so obviously the message is not getting through no matter whether I shout, scream, encourage, whatever, we don’t do it.

"It will be the same thing again this week when we look at Bromley because Bromley are a big strong team and they are strong on set pieces.

"But I’ve never had a team where you have to worry so much about that side of the game. I always found that when you’re defending you’re favourite over the attacker, but at the moment that’s not the case.”

Askey’s search for a solution, it seems, is almost at a lost cause with the Hartlepool boss accepting it could now also be a psychological issue as well as an ability issue given the frequency at which Pools are conceding from set piece routines.

“It could be [a mentality problem] because I think it does get into your head,” said Askey.

"So every time there is a set piece people are getting a little bit jittery. There isn’t a way around that until you start keeping clean sheets and don’t concede. That’s when that fear goes away.”