John Askey sets Hartlepool United target as they look to chase down Crawley Town after their draw with Grimsby Town

Hartlepool United are five points from safety in League Two after Crawley Town earned a point in their final game in hand.
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Crawley scored a late penalty against Grimsby Town to claim a point at the Broadfield Stadium and move five points clear of John Askey’s side with both teams now having played 38 games.

Crawley, upon Askey’s arrival at the Suit Direct Stadium, had held four games in hand over Pools.

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But the Reds have only managed to take two points from a possible 12 in games against Tranmere Rovers, Sutton United, Doncaster Rovers and Grimsby which means Hartlepool remain within two games of Scott Lindsey’s side.

Hartlepool United are five points from safety in League Two after Crawley Town's final game in hand. (Photo: Mark Fletcher | MI News)Hartlepool United are five points from safety in League Two after Crawley Town's final game in hand. (Photo: Mark Fletcher | MI News)
Hartlepool United are five points from safety in League Two after Crawley Town's final game in hand. (Photo: Mark Fletcher | MI News)

Pools are also five points behind Colchester United as we head into the final eight games of the campaign with Askey’s side now the hunters as opposed to being hunted as when he first arrived.

"It can make a difference [if you’re in the bottom two]. Hopefully it changes again,” Askey said to The Mail.

"But when I first came in I think we were four games ahead of them and now it’s gone down. So are we in a better position than what we were when I first came in? It’s out of our hands. We’ve got to win games.

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Hartlepool United still have to face Crawley Town at the Suit Direct Stadium. (Credit: Mark Fletcher | MI News)Hartlepool United still have to face Crawley Town at the Suit Direct Stadium. (Credit: Mark Fletcher | MI News)
Hartlepool United still have to face Crawley Town at the Suit Direct Stadium. (Credit: Mark Fletcher | MI News)
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"There’s other clubs as well that could get dragged in if we could get some wins,” he added.

"If you look at the fixtures, they even themselves up a little bit where you looked at our fixtures a few weeks ago thinking they’re a lot harder than what Crawley have got. [After the Leyton Orient game], on paper, the fixtures are very similar.”

Pools still have to welcome Crawley to the Suit Direct Stadium in a couple of weeks time in what could be a make or break fixture.

But Askey has urged his players to remain focused, with five games still to play before the Reds’ trip to the North East.

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“We’ve just got to keep our heads down and try and win games. We can’t dictate what other teams do,” he said.

"We’ve just got to concentrate on ourselves and try and aim for about four wins. If we do that we’ve got a good chance of staying up.”

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