John Askey's response to Hartlepool United relegation claims

John Askey has warned his Hartlepool United players they could yet find themselves in a relegation battle in the National League.

Hartlepool reached the turning point in the season just four points above the bottom four in the National League table and were unable to put any further distance between themselves and the drop zone heading into Christmas after a frantic 4-4 draw at Wealdstone.

Askey was left to pick the bones out of another alarming performance as Pools found themselves 3-0 down in North West London inside half-an-hour before mustering up something of a fightback with goals from Callum Cooke and Joe Grey.

Wealdstone restored their two-goal advantage in the second half as Sean Adarkwa completed his hat-trick, only for Askey’s side to show some character in escaping with a draw after goals from Josh Umerah and Mitch Hancox in the final 10 minutes.

Again, though, it was an afternoon which left more questions than answers as Askey’s position continues to come under scrutiny – something which might have been untenable at 3-0 down.

“I was just praying that it didn’t end up being a ridiculous score. You start to think ‘do they want to play for me?’ said Askey.

“But for them to get back in the game, I was really pleased they showed that fighting spirit. It could have been really easy to go under. But it wasn't the best feeling I've had at a football ground [at 3-0 down].”

Wealdstone 4-4 Hartlepool United player ratings gallery: 'Disappointing' 4 and '...

The result, however, does little to stave off increasing fears of Pools being involved in another relegation battle. And asked outright whether he believes his side do find themselves in another scrap towards the wrong end of the table, Askey stressed Pools will need to ‘pull their fingers out’ before things escalate.

“I think players have to realise that if you don’t pull your finger out then suddenly it can come creeping up on you,” said Askey.

“So, first of all, you have to avoid that and then after that, if you start to win games, you can look the other way in the table. But all you can do is look at the next game and put everything into it and realise that if you don’t, you can be in serious trouble pretty quickly.”