We preview Saturday's away game...
Hartlepool United
Sky Bet League 2
Saturday 21st January 2017
The Northern Gas and Power Stadium
Kick-off: 3pm
Referee: David Webb
Ticket News
Stevenage fans will be in the Smith & Graham away stand at Hartlepool and tickets are priced as follows:
£20 - Adults (19+)
£10 - Senior (60+) / Armed Forces / Student / Under-19s / Under-16s
Tickets can be purchased online directly from Hartlepool United here or purchase on the day from the cash-only ticket office on Clarence Road or the main ticket office (cash / card sales).
Please note fans must have a ticket prior to gaining entry to the ground, due to a new barcode turnstile system in place at Hartlepool.
Team news:
Stevenage could hand a debut to forward Josh McQuoid who signed on loan from Luton yesterday, however Rowan Liburd will be looking to keep his place in the team after a start at Plymouth. Kgosi Ntlhe (knee), Dean Wells (groin) and Andrew Fox (knee) are all likely to miss out through injury, as will Tom Conlon who continues his rehab from his ACL injury.
Hartlepool expect striker Padraig Amond to shake off a shoulder injury and be available for tomorrow's game. Nathan Thomas (groin) and Carl Magnay (knee) are doubts but Rob Jones (knee) and Trevor Carson (shoulder) are out.
View from the dressing room:
Stevenage manager Darren Sarll: "“I want to be offensively minded, enjoyable to watch and I think we are doing that but you need a nice balance. There can’t be many teams that went to Plymouth and had 20 attempts on goal? That just shows the potential of the group of players we have got. Potential can only be realised over the medium and long term, it doesn’t get realised from week-to-week.
“We know it is a group of players that will be highly desperate to play well for Sam and do justice to the new manager coming in the following Monday. That itself gives inspiration and motivation. We know we are going to have to be well on our guard for the type of environment that will be created because of the new manager coming in.
“If we prepare properly and do what we need to do, we will be more than okay. We just have to make sure we do our job."
Hartlepool caretaker Sam Collins: “I have played here long enough to know what the fans expect to see – and that’s what I intend to get out of the lads on Saturday.
"I have spoken to them already about it and one of the main things I have asked of them is to be really intense, particularly when they’re out of possession. If you put players under pressure in this league then they will give you the ball back and we have some good footballers who can play so if we can focus on what we do without the ball and get that right then we will be fine.
“There will be some things we do on Saturday that will be different in terms of what has gone before; formations are always the same, it’s just about what you do when you’re in that formation.
“We’ve worked on some little tweaks but it’s difficult because this is on the third day – we will get the small things across to them though, and hopefully they will come off by 4.45pm on Saturday."
Hartlepool's season so far
Hartlepool United come into this game in 19th place in Sky Bet League 2, with 27 points from their 26 games so far.
A poor run of one win from nine games saw manager Craig Hignett leave the club last week, with former Wolves, Cardiff City & Sheffield Wednesday boss Dave Jones appointed as new manager on Wednesday. He will only have a watching brief for our game however, with caretaker Sam Collins taking charge of Pools.
Hartlepool's home form this season has resulted in three wins, five draws and five defeats from 13 league games. Apart from a 5-0 defeat against Cambridge United and 3-1 win for Leyton Orient, league games at the Northern Gas and Power Stadium have tended to be quite tight and settled by just a single goal. That would explain why Pools have scored just 14 goals in those 13 games, whilst conceding 19.
Hartlepool's recent results
Crawley 1-0 Hartlepool
Hartlepool 0-1 Grimsby Town
Accrington 2-2 Hartlepool
Hartlepool 3-2 Morecambe
Hartlepool 0-1 Blackpool
Portsmouth 0-0 Hartlepool
Hartlepool 0-5 Cambridge
Head-to-head
Hartlepool must be sick of the sight of Stevenage, who have remained unbeaten against Pools in all of their 10 previous meetings which includes 8 wins:
September 2016 - Stevenage 6-1 Hartlepool
February 2016 - Hartlepool 1-2 Stevenage
August 2015 - Stevenage 2-0 Hartlepool
February 2015 - Hartlepool 1-3 Stevenage
August 2014 - Stevenage 1-0 Hartlepool
April 2013 - Stevenage 1-0 Hartlepool
December 2012 - Hartlepool 0-2 Stevenage
March 2012 - Hartlepool 0-0 Stevenage
November 2011 - Hartlepool 0-1 Stevenage
August 2011 - Stevenage 2-2 Hartlepool
Last time we met
The most recent meeting was back in September where Pools scored first but were then hit for six thanks to goals from Tom Pett, Tyler Walker (2), Dean Wells, Michael Tonge (pen) and Matt Godden.
Betting with Sky Bet:
Stevenage can be backed at 13/10 with Sky Bet to return with three points from Saturday's long trip north to Hartlepool.
The Correct Score Group Betting from Sky Bet offers 5/2 for Stevenage to win 1-0, 2-0 or 2-1.
Sign up to SkyBet through any of the attached links and the club will benefit from your bets!
Live commentary, social media & online coverage:
Can’t make it? Listen to the game live on the Boro Player HD service from tomorrow where Steve Watkins will be leading the commentary as usual.
Our Twitter page is the place to be locked in on a matchday as we provide live minute-by-minute updates during the game as well as all of the up-to-date info and plenty of fun too. All of our key content is linked from our Twitter account so if you are following us, you won’t miss a thing.
If you aren’t following us on Instagram yet then you should be – all the best photos from before, during and after the game will be uploaded here across the weekend.