TWO weeks ago and Ronnie Moore said he was going to have to win the Manager of the Month awards to give Hartlepool United hope of staying up.

He was shortlisted for January’s honour. And, while it was no surprise he missed out, the award going to Northampton’s Chris Wilder, at least it’s a start.

Now, as Pools enter February with a trip to Portsmouth today, followed by back to back home games with Northampton and Stevenage in the next week, he’s out to win this month’s.

“The nomination is nice –winning it was never going to happen, but it proves we are in the right direction and doing the right things,’’ he said. “I’ve said of late I have to win one of them sooner rather than later, not for me, but it means we have won four games and the gap has closed on the teams above to frighten the life out of them.’’

While Pools players and management have put the off-field issues to one side, they have flourished.

The proposed take-over by TMH2014 Ltd was called off by Ken Hodcroft and IOR on Thursday afternoon, with the chairman confident the club is in better hands than it would have been.

TMH did last weekend pass the Football League’s fit and proper persons test, but Hodcroft remained unconvinced by their plans.

IOR have helped Moore make progress in the transfer market, with David Mirfin and Marvin Morgan signing on loan on deadline day, while also landing Aaron Tshibola and Scott Harrison last month. Rakish Bingham was recalled by Mansfield, but Morgan is a direct replacement.

“To get Marvin Morgan and David Mirfin in meant Monday was a good day. Two really good signings, but it was a late night,’’ said Moore.

“We had one or two lined up, then they got called off and we looked elsewhere. Everyone worked really hard to get there.

“We needed deadline day for the loans, and it opens again in a week. We’ve two games until then and we have to act. Am I a fan of deadline day? Probably no, but it’s helped us.’’

He added: “Morgan has been around, knows the league and I’ve wanted an experienced striker. He’s a handful and you have to keep at him and working at him.

“He’s a leader, a big striker and can him and Marlon Harewood play together? The size of them is frightening and with Scott Fenwick one side, Jon Franks on the other there’s an attack for you to frighten.

“Mirf is very experienced, 49 games last year and knows the division. He has the experience, he’s 29 and looks about 50! A great lad, good talker and the two lads in there need someone like that alongside them.’’

Pools last week beat Plymouth 3-2 at Victoria Park and should have triumphed at Tranmere the week previous.

Performances are improving. The gap to safety is seven points and Pools are now 7/1 to finish outside the bottom two.

“Last weekend was positive, the only disappointed was seeing the results of others when we came off, but we can’t worry about others,’’ said Moore.

“It’s down to us and if we do our part I guarantee we can catch them. If we win at Portsmouth, not easy, then it’s four points and really tight – it will frighten some teams.

“Even 17th in there is within reach, if we keep going the way we are and with two home games to come .... we have to win our home games.’’

Of today’s test at Fratton Park, with Moore likely to switch to a 3-5-2 set-up, he added: “Portsmouth is a great place to play – it should be fantastic and they had a good result at Wycombe after bossing the first half. It’s not happened for them yet and we have to go there and be positive.

“As a player you go from 2,500 to 3,500 up to anything from 12 to 18,000 there at the weekend.

“It’s all about expressing yourself, getting about and showing what you can do.

“But it works in our favour too as a clean sheet will frustrate them and they don’t wait too long before the crowd gets on their backs.

“Go and play without fear – the group is better now, we have fresh signings in. And someone may miss out at the weekend, changing one or two things, the way we play.’’