The four big talking points from Hartlepool United's 1-0 Carabao Cup defeat to Crewe Alexandra

The League One side were reduced to 10-men inside the opening 15-minutes after Billy Sass-Davies pulled down Tyler Burey when the Pools player was through on goal.

Hartlepool pushed to make their man advantage count but couldn’t find the net as Crewe punished them at the other end with a clinical finish from Callum Ainley in the second half.

It was a frustrating way to exit the competition at the first round stage for Dave Challinor’s side – here are four big talking points…

Five changes, four full debutants

Challinor made five changes to the side that beat Crawley Town 1-0 on Saturday.

David Ferguson made way for Zaine Francis-Angol at left wing-back while Martin Smith and Matty Daly came into the midfield for Mark Shelton and Gavan Holohan.

Tyler Burey started up front alongside Luke Molyneux with Fela Olomola dropping to the bench.

Jonny Mitchell also made his debut for his hometown club between the sticks.

Changes were expected but the line-up itself was slightly unorthodox in the fact that Pools started without a recognised striker of the field.

Molyneux and Burey are attacking midfielders or wingers by trade and pairing them together up front against a League One defence just reinforced how short Pools are up front.

The pair still held their own and managed to create some chances but their natural tendency to drop deep and try to take on players prevented Pools from penetrating Crewe’s resilient back line.

Mark Cullen remains a couple of weeks short of fitness after missing almost all of Pools’ pre-season so will be limited to substitute roles for the time being. That puts a lot of pressure on the side’s only natural striker, Olomola, to deliver.

Pools can’t afford to overwork him so soon into the season so dropping him to the bench looking ahead to Saturday’s arguably more important League Two match at Barrow was a justified call.

Early red card

Burey was still able to cause problems and that was most evident in the 13th-minute as he got goal side of Sass-Davies and drew a last man challenge from the Crewe defender, resulting in a red card.

The Pools man showed good strength and tenacity to go clean through on goal though replays suggested that he did commit a foul on Sass-Davies prior to being brought down. Fortunately for Pools, referee Thomas Bramall missed the original foul and punished the Crewe player for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.

It was a decision that certainly irked Crewe boss David Artell as he was later shown a yellow card and made his feelings clear following the full-time whistle.

And Challinor admitted Pools had got away with one.

The dismissal put Hartlepool on the front foot after a fairly even start to the game. The hosts had the majority of possession but struggled to do an awful lot with it.

Shots failed to test Crewe goalkeeper Will Jaaskelainen and crosses into the box did little more than tease the visitors’ defence who were able to comfortably mop up the danger for the majority of the evening.

The breakthrough

Pools seemed in control with their man advantage but shortly after the half-time break, Crewe provided a lesson in chance taking after they initially looked to have squandered an opportunity.

A long clearance released the visitors on the break with Owen Dale’s close range strike initially being brilliantly parried away by Mitchell. But Pools were caught ball watching at the back as Ainley arrived in space to volley Crewe into the lead with a powerful drive from 10-yards out.

The goal came against the run of play but it gave Crewe something to hang on to in order to progress despite their numerical disadvantage.

Mitchell had been a confident presence in goal and was unfortunate to concede having made a few solid saves over the course of the evening.

But Pools responded with three forward thinking changes with Olomola, Cullen and Ferguson all coming on in the second half.

The substitutions gave Pools more purpose and direction up front but they just couldn't find the crucial pass or touch needed to draw level.

But late in the day, half of Victoria Park thought the home side had found an equaliser as Matty Daly’s deflected strike rippled the net after skimming past the wrong side of the left post.

That was as good as the celebrations got from the home supporters on Tuesday evening.

Pools’ biggest threat

Saturday’s man of the match Jamie Sterry was part of a virtually unchanged defensive line and put in another fine display. The wing-back was arguably Pools biggest attacking threat over the course of the evening as well as he almost opened the scoring in the opening minute with a 25-yard drive just going wide of the left post before hitting the crossbar with a curling free-kick later in the first half.

He continued to cause problems from out wide with crosses and link up play down the right. The former Newcastle United man always looked a class above in the National League, now he was more than holding his own against League One opposition.

Tying him down to a two-year deal is looking like a fine piece of business by Pools.

On the whole it was a decent team performance from Pools that just lacked any real bite up front and the fact a defender was their biggest attacking threat speaks volumes. Still, the 3,000 Poolies in attendance masked the disappointment of a 1-0 defeat with a warm round of applause following the full-time whistle in appreciation of the team’s efforts.

Much like the early stages of last season, Pools are seemingly a goalscorer away from being a decent side.

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