By Brad Saxton | Image supplied by Hartlepool United.
Ahead of this weekend’s Vanarama National League fixture at the LNER Community Stadium, we take a look at this weekend’s opposition, Hartlepool United.
Last season saw The Pools relegated back to the National League after spending a couple of years back in the Football League, and they’ve had a mixed opening three months following their return.
Hartlepool recently only won one of their last nine games in all competitions, which came as a 3-1 win at The Suit Direct Arena at the start of October.
A 2-2 draw at home last Saturday against Ebbsfleet United also saw them end a run of four successive defeats in a row in the National League.
Hartlepool have also only won twice on the road all season so far, having beaten Southend 3-2 at Roots Hall in August and Dagenham and Redbridge 1-0 at the Chigwell Construction Stadium at the back of end of September.
Five former Minstermen players are currently in the visiting squad for the weekend. Goalkeeper Peter Jameson will hope to line-up against his former club following his move to Harrogate Town from the Minstermen in the summer of 2022, whilst defenders Luke Hendrie and David Ferguson will also hope to turn out against their former club after becoming regulars this season in The Pools defence.
Former City loanee Kieran Wallace will hope to make his comeback from injury after recently returning to training, whilst current loanee Mitch Hancox will miss out this weekend against the Minstermen as part of his current loan deal agreement with Hartlepool United.
Manager: John Askey
Askey will go up against his former club for the first time following his departure from the Minstermen twelve months ago.
He joined Hartlepool at the back end of last season and he was unable to keep the club up in League Two as they were relegated back to the National League following a couple of years spent in the Football League.
So far this season, Askey has led Hartlepool to a mixed start in the league, as they currently sit 13th in the table and he will hope to lead his side to a first win in six games as the North-East side travel down to North Yorkshire.
The 59-year-old previously won promotion from the National League with Macclesfield Town when they were crowned champions during the 2017/18 campaign.
Top Scorer: Emmanuel Dieseruvwe
The 29-year-old has enjoyed a fine start to the season with Harlepool United following his summer move from FC Halifax Town.
Having netted 12 goals so far this season in only 18 National League appearances, the forward has so far averaged 0.66 goals per game as he sits at the top of the goalscoring charts in the league alongside Gateshead’s Marcus Dingana, Barnet’s Nicke Kabamba and Eastleigh’s Paul McCallum.
Dieseruvwe is a player York fans will know well, after he netted a brace for his previous club FC Halifax Town during their 3-0 win over the Minstermen at the back-end of last season at the LNER Community Stadium.
One to Watch: Callum Cooke
The midfielder returned from injury last weekend as he came off the bench to feature during Hartlepool’s 2-2 draw at home against Ebbsfleet United.
Having been out for the last two months, he hadn’t made an appearance for The Pools until last weekend since their 5-2 defeat at Oxford City on the 9th September.
Cooke joined Hartlepool at the start of last season and he was part of the side that suffered relegation back to the National League last season.
After previously coming through the youth-team set-up at Championship side Middlesbrough, the former England U17 international turned out for the likes of Blackpool, Peterborough United and Bradford City in the Football League ahead of his return to the North-East last year.
Head-to-Head
This weekend’s game will be the first meeting between the two sides since the end of the 2015/16 season.