By Albatross
April 23 2004

Hartlepool United know that victory over Rushden and Diamonds would be another big stride towards securing a playoff place - and may even confirm it if other results go our way. Rushden however need the points themselves, and have a new manager to impress. What a difference 12 months can make. This time last season, Rushden had overhauled Pools, leading to our last match showdown and eventual finishing in second place. While this fixture does see both sides still wanting the points, things have changed drastically at both clubs. At Pools the changes have been generally positive, however it's been anything but at Rushden.

After spending most of the campaign floating about in mid-table, Rushden's form has nosedived big time. Max Griggs is looking to end his involvement, and a new owner is on the horizon - but in the meantime the gravy train has slowed drastically. Brian Talbot left the club in March to take over the reins at Oldham, and on Deadline Day no less than four of their best players left, with no-one coming in. Onandi Lowe, Paul Hall, Marcus Bignot and Paul Underwood all departed for pastures new, all on free transfers - and the Diamonds are struggling, just one point clear of the bottom four.

Even more worryingly for them, on current form Rushden are the worst side in the division. Barry Hunter was appointed player-manager following Talbot's resignation, and they have won just one of their eight games since - at home to Notts County. The rot hat started to a degree even before he took over, and they have in fact lost seven of their last nine games - taking just five points out of the last 30. Hunter has now been demoted, with former Wimbledon coach Ernie Tippett installed as manager this week.

Although on paper their total of 60 goals is impressive, the reality of the situation is that firepower has been something of a problem recently. Leading scorer is still Lowe with 15 league and one cup goal - and the only other player to have scored on anything like a consistent basis is Rodney Jack with 12 in the league. Former Newcastle striker Paul Kitson is the name that catches the eye when looking at the squad - but he's struggled with injury, notched just five goals and hasn't played for two weeks or scored in 11 appearances since January.

Hunter will probably play despite the arrival of Tippett, if only because of the current threadbare situation at Nene Park. In addition to the departures, Rushden are also missing players through injury. Kitson is unlikely to be involved due to a thigh strain, and last Saturday saw Stuart Gray and David Bell pick up calf problems against Grimsby while Ritchie Hanlon and Andrew Sambrook had to play through the pain barrier. Gary Mills was on the bench but not fully fit.

Pools fans will have the opportunity to renew their acquaintance with Diamonds Keeper Billy "I can test positive for drugs and not get banned" Turley. To say Turley is not entirely popular with the Pools fans would be an understatement - he went down as if pole-axed despite not being fouled in the championship decider, conning the Ref into disallowing a goal that may have cost us the title - but more seriously the discovery that he tested positive for Nandralone last season and instead of being banned escaped with a warning potentially was a lot worse. Had Rushden been without Turley, who on the pitch had a pretty good season, for an extended spell who knows what may have happened. Hopefully though any ire directed towards him from the away fans will be limited to a bit of taunting as we stick another goal into his net.....

Pools meanwhile have increasingly good news on the injury front, with Michael Nelson resuming training. I don't expect him to be risked, even on the bench - and that bench already looks strong, with the likes of Strachan, Barron and Porter on it.

In fact, I'll be surprised if there are changes to the starting eleven at all given that we're on such a good run. Four wins on the spin, four away wins in our last five, and facing a team struggling - why change a winning formula?

Much will depend on the attitude of Rushden's players. Under Hunter, they had shown a tendency to play defensively; however, Hunter had appeared popular in the dressing room with the players putting in plenty of effort. His demotion may mean that the players feel cheesed off with the club; alternatively, they may want to go all out to impress their new boss.

Either way, it's hard to see anything other than victory for Pools in this match - an opinion that a number of Diamonds fans seem to share. I'll go for Pools to win 2-1, Boyd to reach double figures for Pools, and Eifion to grab the other.