The Hartlepool United improvements boss John Askey is searching for

It was another afternoon where Askey was left facing more questions after Hartlepool United were unceremoniously dumped out of the FA Cup by Chester at the first hurdle before the competition even reached its first round proper stage.

Askey labelled the manner of Hartlepool's exit as 'shocking' in the wake of their 2-0 defeat but when analysing the game further the Pools boss considered what improvements he will need to see from his side moving forward.

"You don’t always play well,” he told BBC Radio Tees.

"So when you don’t play well you’ve got to do the ugly things well. You can always compete and close people down, you can chase, you can harry, you can win second balls. But when the game isn’t quite suiting us we don’t seem as though we can adapt at the moment.

"The first goal, it was their first attack and they’ve scored. The second goal is just not acceptable. It’s two poor mistakes. It’s very poor.

"It had an effect and it gave Chester something to hang onto. You think you can change it at half-time and create some chances and turn it around. But how we defended the second goal is absolutely diabolical.

“You’ve got to be better,” he added.

"We had every opportunity. We spent most of the second half in their final third, as we did in the first half. But you’ve got to play with a bit more devil and look like it matters.

"There were one or two out there who were huffing and puffing but it didn't look like there was a real desire.”

Askey, who was suspended from the touchline for Hartlepool’s FA Cup defeat due to an accumulation of yellow cards this season, must now lift his players ahead of their return to National League action when they face Aldershot Town.

The Pools boss had conceded the only slight positive from their FA Cup exit was that it did not impact their league campaign – the onus now being to ensure its a result which does not crossover into their league form.