By Albatross
February 10 2006

Friday Night Football returns to Victoria Park as Hartlepool United take on Chesterfield. Our opponents are riding high in the table and haven't lost a league game in more than three months - can we upset the applecart and get a much-needed three points? Stepho may have decided he doesn't want to be the permanent boss (at least for the moment), but he will surely be picking the team for tonight even if an appointment is made in the meantime - and he'd surely have to have a big contribution to make for Tuesday's game with Tranmere.

Having not lost in League action since October, Chesterfield will arrive at Pools with some confidence. Fifteen games without defeat (disregarding their cup exit at the hands of Orient) is a good run in anyone's books. However, things could be even better: no less than eleven of those fifteen games have finished level, including a highly unusual run of eight draws in a row from the end of November until the beginning of January. Going unbeaten is usually considered a good thing and their position in the table is more than respectable - but when you realise that they've only actually won two games in their last 13 it paints a different picture.

Chesterfields leading scorers have experience rather than youth on their side, and they're using it to good effect. 37 year old Wayne Allison is having something of a vintage season with 11 goals so far; he's being slightly upstaged though by a younger man in the form of 33 year old Paul Hall, who has hit the net 12 times. With over 1200 league appearances between them, the duo definately fit the description of tried and tested, and are still doing the business.

As far as team news goes, there are no new concerns for the Spireites. Pools meanwhile have a much needed burst of good news: Nelson, Barron and Llewellyn are all available again after suspension, while there's speculation that Adam Boyd could figure if only on the bench. Stepho even called the players in on their day off to try and get things right, and it has to be said that currently the fans are feeling more positive than we have for soem time. I suspect we're going to see Nelson back possibly partnering Clark, Tinkler stepping into midfield, and possibly Llewellyn coming in to replace Maidens; Barron could also well regain his place at full-back.

So can Pools finally end our winless run? Tonight's another hard game, but Chesterfield are maybe not quite as difficult a challenge as a cursory glance would say. A draw would probably be a favourite, but with in all likelihood an increased attendance in a positive frame of mind I'm predicting us to go a step further - 2-1 to Pools, Eifion Williams and Tony Sweeney to get the goals.