Another free Victoria Park Saturday in store for Pools (From The Northern Echo)

Another free Victoria Park Saturday in store for Pools

8:00am Friday 18th January 2013 in Sport By Nick Loughlin

FOR John Hughes, his tenure at Hartlepool has so far been stop-start. This weekend it's going to be the former rather than the latter.

A 10.30am pitch inspection this morning will see Pools' game with Colchester postponed.

The Us are due to travel at lunchtime and, with Victoria Park covered in snow and the forecast for today and tomorrow bleak, a quick check will confirm the inevitable.

Pools did, however, train yesterday. While the Maiden Castle pitches were snowed under, the 3G facility at the training ground was playable.

"The rugby boys cleaned it down on Wednesday and played - we are right on the back of them, so we can get a good training session in on Thursday,'' said Hughes.

"I was at Victoria Park yesterday and there's plenty of snow on it. Take it off, temperatures plummet and you are open to frost - you have to be very careful.

"It's been stop-start since I came here, in training and games, and there's not been much in training either.''

Pools were without a game on Saturday December 22 when the home game with Portsmouth was washed out, while the League One game with Bournemouth on January 5 was off because of the Cherries' FA Cup involvement.

Add tomorrow's blank day in the mix and Pools will have not played a Saturday home game from December 8 until the visit of Notts County on February 2.

By then, Hughes also hopes to have added to his squad, although he is looking past the closure of the transfer window.

"Just because it's the window everyone says it has to be done my the end of January,'' he said.

"But even when the window closes we can still get loans in and that's what we'll be looking at, that loan market to get one or two in to help us along.

"It has to be the right type though. I could bring in a striker who might not play yet because I am happy with Charlie Wyke and he scored on Saturday.

"I'm quite happy with the form that one or two are showing.

"What I'm looking for is the guys like Poole and Monkhouse, those out of the team to train hard and to start knocking one or two off their pedestal. Do that and that's what we need to climb the table.''