GOOD or bad, decent or indifferent, Sam Collins is more than happy to watch Hartlepool United’s performances again.

Pools’ skipper might not always enjoy the viewing, but the fact that a player can learn from his mistakes and displays is all part of the game.

Pools beat Scunthorpe 2-0 on Saturday, and, while the performance wasn’t overly convincing, the three points and a clean sheet were an improvement on the previous game.

“Notts County wasn’t good and it was in our minds,’’ he said. “We didn’t play that well. But I’ve watched the game again on DVD and we weren’t that bad. They played better football than us, we can’t disagree with that, but their goals were down to our mistakes more than anything.

“I knew on the night and could see from the DVD that we didn’t play that well, but could have come off with a draw and we did that at times last season.

“Of course, after a bad result you need to bounce back and we’ve done that next game.

“You always have a point to prove, be it to the manager, team-mates or whoever else.’’ Collins is happy to utilise the club’s media department for a copy of the previous match and admitted: “I try to watch the games on DVD, we get them if we need to. Sometimes after playing you think of it and it’s good to sit and watch.

“Managers do it and take out the good and bad parts to see what we are doing well.

It’s a good option to have and I’ll watch this one again.’’ Another way of regrouping the squad is the pre-match, on-pitch huddle which has been reintroduced prior to kick-off this season.

It was a trait of Neale Cooper’s side during his previous spell in charge in 2003 and Collins joked: “We did the huddle before the game – we say the same old rubbish really!

We repeated what we said before the game and gave everyone a gee-up.

“Everyone knew how important three points were and it’s not necessarily me who always speaks, others have their say and it looks good to the fans as well, it shows we are together and in it for each other.’’ He added: “We’ve not conceded at home this season which is good. We ended up with 18 clean sheets last season which beat the season before and it’s down to the whole team.

“Sometimes it’s not always down to the defenders, it’s the team – we attack as a team and defend as a team.

“This was three points, a clean sheet and now we aim for the same next week against Carlisle.’’