Can Hartlepool United pile pressure upon play-off chasing Eastleigh?

In an incredible season so far for Hartlepool, the side currently find themselves challenging for the automatic promotion spot, whilst their opponents on Saturday face a battle for a spot in the Play-Off picture.

For the second time in almost a month, the sides will meet again and Hartlepool fans will be hoping to see a reverse result in the reverse fixture.

In the fixture just under a month ago, Eastleigh took the lead instantly through Ben House who rounded ‘keeper Ben Killip before scoring his seventh goal of the campaign, an impressive return from 22 games for the 21-year-old. The game would continue in a bleak way for the North East side though. With Tyrone Barnett putting the Spitfires two to the good in 27 minutes.

However, the Pools would score in the last few minutes of the game, turning to substitute Joe Grey who would make the scoreline 2-1, it would be all too late for Hartlepool to salvage a point from the game though and saw the Pools lose their second game in 24 days, both away from home.

The Spitfires, though seem to have hit a slope in form since the game, winning only one of the five games, losing their most recent two, both to a one-goal deficit. Hartlepool though have only bounced back stronger, winning three and drawing three. Picking up 12 points out of a possible 18 a stark contrast to four out of 15 for Eastleigh.

The home side will come into the game the less ready of the two, following their draw on Tuesday night which saw the side take the lead in the 33rd minute through Rhys Oates, but would again see David Challinor’s side drop points from a winning position for the second consecutive draw in a row.

Altrincham would capitalise on the earlier red card, which saw Lewis Cass sent off for the first time in his career, scoring in the first-half stoppage time, although the gap in places between the two sides and following the dismissal of Cass it is a good point for the Pools which sees them go to second in the Vanarama National League, where they currently still sit.

Eastleigh have had to wait a week since their last action in the division due to the ongoing situation between the league and Dover Athletic which saw their game on the 9th between the two not played, meaning that Ben Strevens’ team come into the game off the back of two consecutive losses.

Their game at home to Bromley remained goalless until the 64th minute until top scorer Barnett broke the deadlock for the Spitfires, however, Bromley would score two goals in 22 minutes through Jack Holland and Courtney Duffus to gain all three points.

Hartlepool come into this game as one of the best-performing sides at home in the division, sitting second in the home form table, a carbon copy to the league table where they sit behind league leaders, Sutton United. With Hartlepool not losing at home since the fifth of December Challinor’s men will only be looking to continue this brilliant run of form.

Eastleigh sit 15th in the away form table with their last away win coming against Boreham Wood on the 30th January, picking up only a point since this result, this must be something of a concern for the Spitfires and something they can only hope to rectify starting this weekend.

The game will see an interesting face-off between the sides tactically, with the Pools expected to once again line up with a 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 which Challinor has preferred recently to the 4-3-3 and has only brought brilliant results, this has been largely due to the versatility of Lewis Cass and his ability to play as a right-back or as a centre-half.

However, due to the three-game suspension of Cass will likely see Timi Odusina start for only the second time since the previous fixture between these two sides, following his mistake that led to the early goal. Something that may fill Eastleigh fans with confidence due to Cass’ influence in this campaign. There are a few fitness concerns though, with Ryan Johnson and Jamie Sterry potentially sidelined for the tie, which will likely influence the first 11.

In contrast to this, there are no injury concerns for the Spitfires leaving a full-strength squad available at the hands of Strevens, maximising hopes of capitalising upon a potentially weakened Hartlepool side and taking three points back to the south coast on Saturday.

In Challinor’s pre-match press conference he spoke about how he is expecting a different game to the one just short of a month ago stating,

I expect a game they’ll probably enjoy, playing the game away from home compared to what they would at home, their pitch at the moment makes it really really tough for everyone. As much as we were potentially affected by it, they’re potentially affected by it.

He further spoke about how good of a side they are and how they are deserving of the place they find themselves in,

They’re a good side in terms of what they do and how they do it and they’ve got themselves in a position that justifies performances they’ve put in this season.

Head-to-head

The two prior games between the sides have seen both sides win a game, both being 2-1 to the home side, however, looking at the larger picture, Hartlepool have only won one of the last seven meetings between the pair which has seen four Eastleigh wins and two draws in the other meetings.

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