Swindon Town boss gives Hartlepool United verdict ahead of Suit Direct Stadium showdown

Morris has won just two of his 10 games in charge of Swindon Town since taking over at the end of January with the Robins having not won in five heading into the fixture with John Askey’s side.

The Robins find themselves 10 points adrift of the play-off places due to their recent blip in form whilst Hartlepool’s need for points remains at a premium in their battle to avoid relegation.

Hartlepool face something of a bogey team in Swindon having not won in any of their last eight meetings, but Morris has insisted his side will need to be mentally prepared for the challenge heading their way at the Suit Direct Stadium.

“We’re expecting a difficult game,” said Morris.

“You have to be mentally ready to go and put in a performance against a team who are fighting for their lives and who are struggling at the minute.

"I always think whenever you travel this sort of distance you’ve got to make sure you’re mentally prepared for that as well - the journey back home is always a lot better if you put in a performance.

“It’s about us being confident and wanting to impose ourselves from an attacking aspect. We have to be ready to earn that right but, depending how the weather is up north and what the elements are like and the pitch, we’ve got to be prepared for whatever levels they’re at.

“If that means we need to grind out or fight to play a bit more like ourselves and our game [that’s what we’ll need to do]. However long that is, we need to be prepared for that mentally and physically.

“Okay, they haven’t won in five [under the new manager] but at the same time nobody is beating them either so they’re difficult to beat at the moment.

“But we’ll be going there trying to impose ourselves on the game and trying to get the win. The level of players that we have here we should be able to go anywhere and give teams a problem and we’ll be looking to do that.”