HARTLEPOOL UNITED might be down to the proverbial bare bones, but boss Craig Harrison feels a tight-knit group can fight on.

Pools had only 12 fit senior outfield players at the weekend – and they won for the first time since November as they beat Woking.

Tonight they go to Halifax and have one more player available with Carl Magnay back from a one-game suspension.

But the Pools boss said: “We all want to play, they all work in training but want to play. Modern day sports science stops players these days. Years ago Liverpool won every competition with 14-15 players.

“Confidence now here is high and it’s been a different place in the last two weeks, a lot lighter and better not as serious. It’s important to keep the fun and you want to work hard and enjoy the environment.’’

Pools have been up for sale for two months and their future is extremely uncertain with nothing imminent on the takeover front.

Tonight’s opposition have only won one in ten and sit below Pools in the National League table.

Harrison said last week he felt his players had put the off-field issues to one side to concentrate on what matter on the pitch.

He said: “There’s been a buzz in training and first 45 minutes on Saturday we were fantastic, aggressive. It would be nice to keep a clean sheet, but winning is important.

“At some point reality has to sink in and for want of a better explanation you have to snap out of the circle. Transfer window closing was a bonus as it means players are now here.

“Time off, three days off over a weekend gave them chance to come back fresh. We drew a line in the sand and the enthusiasm was there.’’

Luke George was in at right-back for Magnay on Saturday. A central midfielder by trade, George has only made four starts this season since his summer move from Chester because of a string of injuries.

But he came through Saturday’s game unscathed and is desperate to stay in the side tonight.

He said: “It was a big thing for me to play, I’ve had a hard season, but a win means everything.

“The season has been hard for me and you have to use it to drive on and you are working on your own, without having a massive impact.“

George added: “It’s hard to put into words, no point beating about the bush with the rumours and what’s going on.

“Three points has to be a platform for us to kick on on Tuesday, it was massive to get a win.

“We’ve had two weeks without a game and gave us a lot of time on how they want to play, we had a game plan, set traps to press them and it’s worked out well for us.

“For me I was ready for Barrow to play, but it was called off. It’s been a tough season injury-wise and that gave me an extra week to get match-fit.

“Sometimes you can be a bit off the pace, a yard off it, but all the work has paid off for us.

“It’s hard not to get caught up in things off the pitch and we had a few days off. Then we came back fresh and the hard work has paid dividends.

“We hope for a turnaround in fortunes now, there’s 14 games to go and we know what we need to achieve now. Five wins will get us over the line where we want to be.

“The victory is massive, and a win and three points gives everyone a lift. Whatever rumours are going around a buzz of three points doesn’t change anything for us.’’