John Askey issues Hartlepool United ultimatum after lacklustre Salford City defeat

Hartlepool were comfortably beaten for the second time in three days by a Salford side who never really got out of second gear at the Peninsula Stadium.

Matt Smith headed the home side in front inside the opening 15 minutes when turning in Liam Shephard’s dangerous cross from the right before Louie Barry fired in a second before the half hour after Pools had given away possession.

Askey’s side never really tested Alex Carins in the Salford goal with anything meaningful until Wes McDonald’s effort late in the game as Askey suffered a second successive defeat.

It means Hartlepool are now three points from safety ahead of the weekend fixture with Crawley Town which could effectively seal their fate if they were to lose.

“We’ve played a decent team who put away their chances when they’ve had them,” said Askey.

“We’ve had chances ourselves in the first half, we got into decent positions, but you perhaps saw a difference in quality when they got into positions compared to when we did.

“We’ve got to move on and forget tonight. I always said when I came in I was hoping I would get a chance at Crawley where if we can beat them we go above them, which we can do. Then we’ve still got a fighting chance.

“We’ve got one chance now and we’ve got to make sure we take it.”