JORDAN Hugill was praised by Ronnie Moore for an impressive debut – but the Hartlepool United boss wants his new striker to be greedier.

Hugill, Middlesbrough-born, arrived on loan from Preston last week and made his mark in Pools’ vital win over Cambridge at the weekend.

And, while Bradley Walker scored the opener with a well-directed header, Hugill did get a touch on it – but only after it was over the line.

In such tight situations, Moore, a former striker himself, reckons the centre-forward should be doing all he can to claim the strike.

“Brad should get goals, not with his head – I didn’t expect that – but he’s got ability and good feet and I was disappointed with Jordan as I would have claimed it !

“No way I wouldn’t have! If he runs away with his arm up he gets a goal. I was assistant at Tranmere to John Aldridge and he was the master at it.

“He runs away for anything celebrating. The referee puts it down and it’s his goal, mind you I probably got ten of them as a player. Strikers need to be hungry and I thought he did remarkably well.

“Jordan worked his socks off, he has a big future. I was impressed with him, the ball stuck with him and allowed midfielders to come into play.’’

Hugill signed to fill the void left by Ryan Bird’s return to Cambridge.

After a good month on loan, Us boss Richard Money recalled the forward, but didn’t want to include him in his squad to face Pools, claiming it would be unfair on all parties.

And Moore was full for praise for his counterpart.

“We lost Ryan and to be fair to Cambridge they did it right,’’ said Moore. “Richard Money handled it well. He could have stitched us up, left him here and called him back last Wednesday and we wouldn’t have got anyone in as a replacement in time.

“So he’s done it honestly in his approach. I’d have gone beserk if he had, but as managers out of respect I wouldn’t have done it.

“Like I say it was handled well. We will miss Birdy as he’s not going to play that often for Cambridge after going back, but we could have been stitched up and we weren’t.’’

Victory lifted Pools off the bottom and out of the bottom two. Four wins in a row have rejuvenated the club and given Pools massive hope they can avoid the drop.

“We are on the front foot, no doubt about it with four wins on the trot which is a great achievement,’’ said Moore.

“We have another test on Friday and then Monday. Once Monday (Southend at Victoria Park) is out the way then there’s one or two meaty ones coming up. If we compete like this, we won’t be frightened. It doesn’t matter who we play.

“They’ve been fantastic the last month. There’s a lot of games to come, two in a few days. Friday, get a knock and it’s hard to get over it for Monday and we aren’t a massive squad.’’

Tickets for Pools' final day of the season at Carlisle are on sale from today to season ticket holders. Pools have an initial allocation of 1,530 tickets, but are expecting to get more. Season ticket holders need Voucher A from 10.30am today until Friday, April 10 at 2pm. Tickets will be sold at a rate of one per voucher.

General starts at 10.30am on Monday, April 13. Prices: Adults £19; Seniors (65 and over) £16; Aged 18-22 £13; Aged 11-17 - £10; Aged 10 and under- £7; Children (6 and under) – Free

Pools 2,000 allocation for the game at York on April 11 has sold out and the game is now all-ticket.

A statement from the Minstermen read: “With a bumper crowd expected against Hartlepool United, York City have taken the step to make the game all-ticket in the interest of customer safety. City are anticipating a high attendance and therefore want to ensure supporters are guaranteed a ticket, as well as being able to provide a safe environment for everyone.’’

City fans match must now purchase tickets either in person at the ticket office or over the phone 01904 559500. There will be no sales on the day of the game, and tickets cannot be bought online.