NATHAN Thomas is confident a different Hartlepool United side will turn up at Cheltenham today. A side with belief in what it is trying to do, a team with a new outlook following the dismissal of Dave Jones.

Matthew Bates and Billy Paynter are in charge today as Pools seek to the win they need to remain a Football League club.

Under Jones, they wouldn’t have felt they could do it, under Bates and Paytner it’s a different story. The smile is back around the squad. A simple thing which goes a long way.

Thomas admitted: “There’s a belief here now. It’s a totally different place. It’s crazy. Everyone could see confidence was low, everyone was hurting and we couldn’t drag that hurt into a performance.

“Now we have people in charge who believe in us and we believe in them and there’s a style of football which suits us. We want to fight for the people we are working for. It’s hard to say what’s happened.

“The boys believe so much in what we want to do now it doesn’t actually feel we are in the bottom two.

“We feel like a team all together and going for something. If you could see last Saturday and this Saturday – and this is speaking days before it – the difference will be huge.

“I honestly believe we will go there, turn up and take it to the last game. Come here and do the same again.’’

And the wideman, set for a key role in front of around 700 travelling fans this afternoon, added: “The shackles are off, we will get players higher up the pitch to affect the game, not sitting in front of the back four. Flair players will have much more freedom on the ball, it’s not a pattern of play to put it on the channel, we have freedom to play and express themselves.

“It’s the best way to be, we haven’t got anything to lose now.

“It’s been a frustrating time for everyone. We have had a lot of stick, I have had it. It hurts us all as players as much as it does supporters.

“We signed contracts to take Hartlepool up the leagues, not down. It hurts us and it hurts me as a local lad. The last thing I want is Hartlepool to go down. It hurts.

“We have been awful and you expect the stick. But we are in it together now, we all give it our all the last two games and with everyone behind us we can get out of it.

“The fans are as important as the players. They can drag that bit extra out of us. After we conceded on Saturday we were deflated, everyone was. The crowd can drag that extra couple of percent out of us that can make a difference.

“You will see a massive difference on the pitch.’’