By Albatross
September 10 2004

Hartlepool United will face Oldham Athletic at Boundary Park with a squad that's looking a little thin at the moment. Facing us is likely to be a player that we had hoped to have in our squad for this game - Kevin Betsy. Can Pools show him that he's made a wrong move? Oldham are still to an extent still trying to get things together after last season's problems, and this season hasn't got off to the best of starts. They lost their first two games - against Luton and Wrexham - before getting off the mark with an extraordinary 5-3 home win over Walsall that saw them come from 2-0 down to claim victory. A further win over MK Franchise and a draw with Sheffield Wednesday have given them seven points from six games - they have a game to catch up on against Tranmere. They also took a higher division scalp with a 2-1 win over Division 1 side Stoke in the Carling Cup. They have scored 12 goals in their league campaign so far - but have been vulnerable at the back, conceding 11 including no less that six in three games at home. Only the Franchise have failed to hit the net against them.

Brian Talbot has been trying to fill out his squad, most recently of course through signing Kevin Betsy, but is still having to rely on one or two veterans. Jack is approaching his 32nd Birthday, a landmark Matty Appleby has already reached, while the Daddy of them all (he's literally old enough to have fathered some of the squad) is David Eyres; he's taken some part in every game so far, despite having celebrated his 40th birthday back in February, and has scored three goals to be leading scorer - not bad for the oldest outfield player in the league.

Up front will probably be Jermaine Johnson - despite having taken part in a game for Jamiaca on Wednesday - and Chris Killen. Jack is away on International duty, meaning that Betsy may also be an option up front - but is more likely to find himself involved on the right.

For Pools, Cooper is finding his options pretty limited at the moment. Barron, Clarke, Robertson and now Ross are all certain to miss out; Eifion Williams is a doubt after limping off at half time last week, and the only good news is that Mark TInkler is back in contention after his recent Achilles problems. This leaves us severely short of options on the right - it looks to be a choice between playing Craddock there, or bringing Westwood across - meaning that either Craddock plays in the centre, or Tinkler returns in defence. Assuming Williams is unfit, Istead is the obvious choice on the right of midfield while Porter is favourite to continue alongside Boyd; although with Appleby and Foley both performing well for the reserves this week Cooper may decide to give one of them a start in place of the mis-firing Aussie. New arrival Martin Woods will probably also be on the bench.

The local press in Manchester - and a fair few Latics fans - seem to think that this should be a comfortable victory for the home side, although looking at their official site Talbot and his squad are not expecting an easy game. With Pools missing the likes of Ross, Barron and Robertson they may well feel that the're playing us at just the right time. We do have some experience in the side - Chris Westwood's played well over 200 times for Pools now, Richie Humphreys has more than 150 starts, and the likes of Strachan, Boyd and Sweeney are hardly callow youths - and while I think a win might be too much to hope for, a draw certainly isn't out of the question. 1-1, with almost inevitably Boyd to hit the back of the net.