John Askey makes Hartlepool United season admission ahead of Bradford City test with ex-Sunderland defender in contention for return

Nevertheless, the Hartlepool boss is looking to gain an early advantage on Saturday lunchtime as Pools travel to Valley Parade to take on Bradford City in an early kick-off with Askey hoping that could allow his side to add a little bit of pressure onto those teams around them in the relegation battle ahead of their fixtures later in the afternoon.

The meeting with Bradford is the second of three consecutive games against promotion chasing teams following the 1-1 draw with Northampton Town a week ago and the visit of table-toppers Leyton Orient still to come.

But Askey knows the challenge ahead as Pools come up against a Bradford team occupying a play-off position with Mark Hughes’ side also keen to push on for an automatic promotion spot.

“If we can get a result then it puts pressure on others,” said Askey.

“It doesn’t affect us how we go out and approach the game. We know we’ve got to get a result. Whether we played at 3 o'clock or 1 o'clock, it doesn’t make any difference to us.

“I think there’ll be a lot of twists and turns and every week it will change and, hopefully as we come towards the end of the season, we’re still in there with a fighting chance.

“But our season won’t be decided on our next two games and we can’t lose sight of that.

“Our lads going to Bradford, it’s always a good place to go, it’ll be a good atmosphere. It’s important we start bright and try and quieten their crowd. If not, then it’s going to be a long afternoon.

"Hopefully we can go there and put a good performance on and get a result. If it doesn’t happen then we move onto the next one.”

One of those reasons it could be a long afternoon is down to the in-form Andy Cook.

Cook leads the League Two scoring charts this season with 20 goals to his name including a blistering run of seven in his last nine appearances.

And Hartlepool boss Askey is aware of the threat posed by the 32-year-old.

“We know what his assets are and he’s been doing it now for a number of years,” said Askey.

“There’s not many teams who have stopped him this season. Hopefully we can. But that’s why Bradford are where they are, because of Andy Cook.”

Askey could be boosted in his quest to stop Cook with the return of Peter Hartley, after missing the last two games due to concussion protocol, with the Pools boss revealing he has close to a fully-fit squad to choose from.

“Peter trained this week. Although he’s not fully over his concussion, we’re going to have another look at him [before making a decision],” said Askey.

“Virtually everybody is fit now. I think there's only Joe [Grey] and then the long-term injuries, so going from about 12 injuries when I first came in to having just one should help us.”

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