By Albatross
November 12 2004

FA Cup Fever? Well maybe not quite yet, but the first round of this year's competition sees Hartlepool United take on Lincoln City at Victoria Park. Reduced prices and a healthy away following may see a decent crowd - what sort of entertainment will be on offer? Lincoln's management seem keen to play down their chances of a result; Keith Alexander said when the tie came out of the hat that it was the worst possible draw for his side. How much of this is trying to limit the fans expectations of a result and how much is his true opinion is open to question; obviously drawing Pools at the Vic isn't an easy prospect, but he surely feels that his players have some chance of getting through to the next round.

Lincoln's away form confirms the view that they won't be turning up with no hope at all. They've won half of their away fixtures in Division 3 this time out, and if their home form hadn't been fairly poor they'd probably be well into the top six - and let's not forget that they have been in the Playoffs for the last two seasons. This is despite Alexander having a fairly limited budget and also missing several months due to major illness last season, and goes to show that Lincoln will need to be treated with respect.

In fact, Lincoln could be the sort of side to really push Pools. While their style is not quite as long ball as many still think, they are a big, physical side - and with Cooper having said on more than a couple occasions that our players have been "bullied" in games this season, Lincoln may well feel that they have the tools to try and do the same. This looks like it will be far from a walk in the park for Pools.

One thing that may be to our advantage is that Alexander looks likely to be forced into changes up front. Leading Scorer Simon Yeo (7 goals this season) is set to miss out, and with Francis Green (4 goals) and Martin Carruthers also struggling with knocks there could be a partnership up front of Gary Taylor-Fletcher (5 goals) and former Poolie Marcus Richardson, who scored his first goal of the season when he came off the bench to score the winner against Northampton last week. Another option may be the 34 year old Adrian Littlejohn.

Meanwhile Pools will be well-advised to keep the ball on the deck when getting forward. With defenders to call on such as Ben Futcher (6'6"), Jamie McCombe (6'5"), and Gareth McAuley (6'3") - left back Kevin Sandwith must feel like a midget at 5'11" - even the "big striker" that we apparently crave would be hard pressed to win much in the air. Ball to feet needs to be the order of the day, and any crosses will need to be pin-point accurate to give our attackers any chance of getting a header in on goal. We'll also be hard-pressed at set pieces, and we'll need to make sure we avoid giving away silly free kicks or conceding needless corners to limit the chances of an aerial bombardment that we simply don't have the height to deal with if the service is good.

As far as team selection goes, Pools will still be without long-term injury victims Hugh Robertson and Darrell Clarke, while Ben Clark is hoping to be fit despite having been sent home from training on Thursday. If Clark isn't fit, Nelson will probably step back into the defence as the other option - Mark Tinkler - is due to be suspended for the game after picking up his fifth booking of the season in the LDV Game at Carlisle. In Tinkler's absence Gavin Strachan could step in, or possibly Jack Ross may get an opportunity to play in central midfield. Should Lewis Goburn be denied permission to take part, then we could well see Ross on the right. Joel Porter looks hot favourite to start up front after his brace last week alongside Adam Boyd.

I expect a close game tomorrow: Lincoln are the sort of side we have struggled against recently - big, strong, and well organised. However I also think that if we play like we can do, we are more than capable of getting the win. In some ways it might be no bad thing to be playing Lincoln - we might actually be forced to play the ball on the ground more, which is where our strengths lie. 1-0 to Pools, with man of the moment Joel Porter to get the goal.