Story of the day: Hartlepool United 2-1 Carlisle United – bank holiday weekend joy for Pools in front of bumper crowd

Carlisle XI: Norman; Tanner, Armer, McDonald, Riley, Guy, Clough, Mellish, Abrahams, Feeney, Whelan

Carlisle subs: Alessandra, Devine, Dickenson, Mampala, Toure, Jensen, Young

Pools XI: Killip; Ferguson, Francis-Angol, Liddle, Byrne, Sterry; Featherstone, Shelton, Holohan, Burey, Goodwin

Subs: Cullen, Mitchell, Odusina, Smith, Daly, Ogle, Molyneux

Here’s what he had to say about Dave Challinor’s side...

“[Hartlepool] will give us a very good [game], a very competitive one, a very energised one.”

“Dave has had a set way of playing for quite some time, doesn’t deviate too much from it, the reason being he’s very successful from it.

“A bit like ourselves I suppose in the summer, they tend to lose one or two what they would consider their better players. They did excellently in the loan market last season, I remember the Middlesbrough goalkeeper [Brad James] saving penalties, Luke Armstrong scoring goals.

“They’ve done great and have started really well too. We just have to make sure we look after ourselves – we’re Carlisle, we have to represent us against a good manager and a very good team.”

Beech played 104 times for Hartlepool United between 1996 and 1999, scoring 26 goals before leaving under controversial circumstances to join Hudersfield Town following a tribunal.

Reflecting on his time at Pools, Beech told The News and Star: “I had a great time, scored some good goals, important goals…and it’s funny what happens in football.

“If you’re a new player playing for Hartlepool, the trick is to make sure you start very well. I remember a few shouts, when I signed from Blackpool, of: ‘Beech…get back to Blackpool, you donkey’.

“As I turned round, I thought, ‘bloomin ‘eck’, these away fans are a bit rough – before I realised they were our [Hartlepool] fans!

“But I soon got to grips with that. I tried my best and hope I earned the right to have a bit of respect from them in the period I played for them.

“It can be a cauldron of…information. Being Carlisle United’s manager, I would be offended if I’m not booed!”

“I hope I’ll get a better reception this weekend [compared to Walsall],” Liddle told The Mail. “Having spent two years there and playing over 100 games for Carlisle.

“I had a difficult start to my time there actually but I like to think I won the supporters around a little bit. I was lucky enough to play almost every game for the club while I was there and I really enjoyed my time at Carlisle.

“It was a good group of lads although not many of them are left from when I was there but behind the scenes it’s a good club, a good family club and reminds me a lot of Pools in certain ways.

“From my time at Carlisle, they’ve always travelled well. They were always well backed home and away so it’s nothing less than I expect from them.

“We’re at home and we have a very good record at home but in League Two every game brings its own challenges.

“Having watched their game against Leyton Orient, I can’t see any real weaknesses in them, they’re just a strong outfit where every individual knows their jobs. It will be a tough game and we’ll have to implement our game plan effectively and hopefully come out on the right side of the result again.”

“We’re in pretty good shape,” Challinor said. “We’ve trained with a big group, almost too big a group at times.

“Everyone is fit and available for Saturday, the treatment room is empty, we have a few niggles but nothing that should keep anyone out.

“Largely I suspect we’ll have the same side [that played against Walsall].”

“It’s not just a proper game on the pitch but off it as well in terms of the atmosphere around the ground in the lead up to the game,” Pools boss Dave Challinor said.

“It makes for a really good occasion and it’s important that we produce in the 90-minutes on the pitch and allow it to be another special day.

“To be fair, the special days from our perspective are coming every time that we’re at the ground, which from a player’s point of view is massively rewarding and long may that continue.

“It’s a bit of a derby in terms of the distance and the teams we play against although it’s still almost 100 miles away as one of the closest teams.

“Carlisle will travel well and the atmosphere will be fantastic. It’s another opportunity and a big game for us to continue our home form which has been very good over the last 18 months.

“Hopefully we can produce another performance like we did in the second half against Walsall, particularly in the first 20-minutes because that was as good as we’re going to be. If we bottle that and reproduce that we’ll have a great chance.”