John Askey shares importance of Hartlepool United's break from the National League

Hartlepool have lost three consecutive league games for the second time this season after they were beaten 3-2 by Rochdale.

It forms part of a run which has seen Pools win just two of their last 10 league fixtures, having lost seven of those.

Askey’s side, within that period, have also suffered a hugely disappointing FA Cup exit when being dumped out of the fourth qualifying round by Chester.

Pools’ form has led to increased frustration from supporters with Askey now having a two-week period to try and regroup his players and kick-start their season once more when they return to action against Ebbsfleet United on November 11.

"It’s massive that we start again,” said Askey.

"We’ve got to regroup and have a look at how we play and why we’re not getting results and why we’re conceding too many goals. The goals that we concede are really poor and it’s been happening all season, so there’s obviously something wrong.

“So we’ve got two weeks now to sort ourselves out and to try and get back to winning ways.

“Hopefully we can get one or two back,” he added.

"That may help us. But we’ve got to look at why. It’s not just one thing why we’re conceding goals. It’s decision making that we’ve got to improve.

"All we can do is work really hard and hopefully it changes things.”