Graeme Lee reveals how he wants his Hartlepool United side to play against Scunthorpe United as he praises defender for performance against Rochdale

There’s little sweeter in football than a last-gasp winner - something that Hartlepool fans got to experience on Wednesday when a late Mark Shelton goal sealed a 2-1 win over Rochdale.

Pools secured victory playing a slightly more direct style of football and although this was successful in midweek, Lee recognises the quality of his players and insists his team need to find a ‘balance’ between attack and defence:

“I’ve come in and you’re looking [at results], we’ve lost the last five league games so I’ve come in thinking ‘don’t put pressure on yourself’.

“The lads like to play. We've got some very good technical players and I know as a manager I set up to try and nullify [the opposition] and use that [our technical players] to our advantage.

“We’ve got to get the balance. That will come in time, it’s just about picking the right moments.

“If they want to play, they can play but it’s about [doing it] at the right moments.”

So how does Lee reflect on Wednesday’s performance and where does he believe his side can improve?

“I watched it again last night and there’s areas to work on, things we will look at today and improve in and out of our session.

“I think there was times the other night where we could have used the ball a hell of a lot better.” Lee admitted.

“But again, they are the little things we will be looking at. How we work the ball, it doesn’t always have to go long, we’ve got good players.

“As much as we’re building up attacks, I don’t want to say too much because we’re going into a game, but there will be a balance and a need for decision making on the pitch from the players to take ownership of that.

“We’ll work on things that might help them but again, on the pitch, if Ben [Killip] as the keeper thinks [playing out from the back] is not on, then it’s not on.”

It was a solid team performance on Wednesday evening with Joe Grey and Tom Crawford, who had to settle for starting the game on the sidelines, making a big impact when they were introduced to proceedings.

However, it was Timi Odusina’s performance against Rochdale that Lee singled out in his pre-match press conference ahead of the visit of Scunthorpe tomorrow:

Lee said: “He’s aggressive, he’s on the front-foot. It’s something we’re trying to get into him.

“You saw the goal we scored, we need to do that more. He wins the first-ball, he picks the second-ball up and creates a chance on transition - we’re looking for that.

“He’s got the pace, so we’re not worried about squeezing the pitch, so he’s got plusses from what I’ve seen so far.

“He’s ticked boxes in certain areas, there’s still a lot to come, but I picked him for the Lincoln game, he did well in that, so hopefully those levels stay the same.”

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