Keith Curle looking forward to reunion with ex-Barnsley team-mate as Hartlepool United host Stoke City

The FA Cup has a habit of throwing up a number of backstories when the draw is made and there will be another at the Suit Direct Stadium when Pools welcome Alex Neil’s Championship side.

Hartlepool are looking to repeat their FA Cup antics of a year ago when knocking out Blackpool at this stage of the competition thanks to Joe Grey’s winner before going on to face Crystal Palace in the fourth round at Selhurst Park.

And it will be two familiar foes in the dugout at the Suit Direct Stadium as Curle comes up against his former Barnsley team-mate Neil - a man who he also signed when moving into the managerial role at Mansfield Town.

Curle and Neil featured briefly together during the Hartlepool manager’s time at Oakwell, with Curle joking about the pair falling out when he took over at Mansfield after he opted to leave Neil out of his starting line-up early in the season.

“It’s an excellent distraction, when it comes,” Curle recently said of Hartlepool’s FA Cup tie.

“It was a fantastic performance by the players to get through the second round into the third round.

“Will Stoke want to come to Hartlepool? They’ll be glad that they’re in the cup and they’ve got a tie, in their minds, they’ll be able to win.

“I know the manager. I signed him as a player and fell out with him very quickly because I didn’t play him.

“I played with him at Barnsley and took him to Mansfield. He wasn’t too happy when he wasn’t in the team and then subsequently he went on a different journey.

“But Alex is a good person, a good human being and he’s gone on to have a fantastic managerial career.”

It will be the second time this season Neil will take a side to the Suit Direct Stadium having been Sunderland’s manager for the pre-season fixture which ended 1-1.

Stoke are entering the competition at the third round stage but Neil’s Potters arrive without a win in their last three league fixtures.