Tonight's match is a real six pointer as far as Pools are concerned. Forget the fact that our much-disliked ex-Boss is in charge of Luton: that's merely the cherry on top of a large cake. A win for Pools would not only move us up a place, but would bring us to within striking distance of Tranmere and Hull - and therefore an automatic promotion spot. Three wins in eight days, starting tonight, could even put us in the driving seat given how the teams ahead of us seem to be dropping points at the moment.

Luton may be top of the table, but the good work of earlier in the season is in danger of being wasted thanks to some stuttering form over the last couple of months. While a run of 11 games without defeat in the league may look impressive, six of those games have been draws - including ones against the likes of Colchester and Peterborough. The result is that their lead over the likes of Pools has been whittled away to the point where a win for us tonight would see us close the gap to eight points - with two games in hand.

A home win over Hull on Saturday eased them clear again at the top of the table - but it wasn't until the very end of the game that they edged in front with a goal from Brkovic. Before that the Hatters had drawn three on the spin, and in fact their current record for the last eight games sees just two wins.

One player definately out of tonight's game is Luton's top scorer - and former Poolie - Steve Howard, who has scored 19 goals so far this season. He's suspended, and Pools fans will be breathing a sigh of relief; since we sold Howard to Northampton, he's scored seven goals in as many games against us. However Luton still pose a threat - they have in fact yet to lose a game when Howard has been suspended. Midfielder Ahmet Brkovic is probably the main danger; he's scored 12 goals so far this season, including netting in his last two appearances. Up front are likely to be Rowan Vine (seven goals) and Enoch Showunmi, who has not started many games this season but has scored a couple. As well as Howard, Luton look set to be missing former Rushden defender Paul Underwood through injury.

Pools will have to make at least one change, with another possibly being forced. Jack Ross is suspended after his dismissal against Brentford, with Mickey Barron set to make his first start for a couple of months; while at the moment there's no news on whether Mark Tinkler will be fit having had to be substituted on Saturday. If Tinkler does miss out, the most likely option looks to be to move Ben Clark inside, with either Eifion Williams or Steven Istead coming in to play on the wing. Jon Daly will probably have to settle for a place on the bench.

Our unbeaten run may have come to an end, but Pools have to put Saturday's narrow defeat behind them and concentrate on another hard game. Last season's fixture at the Vic provided plenty of entertainment; this time round things look set to be more tense with Pools trying to get onto the tail of the automatic promotion challengers and Luton trying to regain some of their lost lead at the top. I don't think we'll see another seven goal thriller; but I do think Pools will snatch a 1-0 victory in a close game with Adam Boyd making the difference between the two sides.

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