HE’S closing in on the 1,000-game landmark as a football manager. For his successes, longevity and respect in the game, Ronnie Moore admits he could be about to make his biggest achievement of all.

Keeping Hartlepool United in the Football League would outweigh anything and everything he’s achieved in management.

It’s not long ago since Pools were nine points from safety. Now they are one. Beat Cambridge at Victoria Park and they could be out of the relegation places.

The town is behind the club again, Pools have already sold 2,000 tickets for next month’s trip to York. There’s a belief the job can be done.

“It’s massive for the town to stay up - you only have to look to others who have gone out of the league. Grimsby, Wrexham, Stockport etc,’’ said Moore. “That is how important and how easy it is to just fall away.

“From where we are this would be the best thing I have done as a manager.’’

Moore was appointed in December, amid the planned takeover which didn’t happen. And 

But, after being forced out of the game when he was sacked by Tranmere last April, he was desperate to return to the coalface.

“People probably thought I was crackers but I had been out of work for eight months,’’ he reflected on his return to the dug out.

“I know how to wash up, put the washing on, get the right temperatures for the cotton because I was doing all that.

“My back garden looked like Wembley. To be given the opportunity to come back was great and once you’re back in, that drives you.

“To be back in, you have to stride to make sure it doesn’t happen again.’’

He added: “If I can keep us up then that will be better than the two promotions at Rotherham.

“I have never regretted it, I have loved every minute of being here.

“I have been given a chance and there if anybody didn’t want to ride this wave with me then they are gone.’’

Pools have won three games in a row for the first time this season. Can they make it four this afternoon – a feat they’ve not racked up since October 2013?

Successive away triumphs at Morecambe and Oxford were followed by a vital victory over Cambridge last weekend.

“The problem we had was we couldn’t get back-to-back wins, then all of a sudden we took nine points and it has changed the whole outlook of our season,’’ added Moore.

“It shows they have a bit of character about them.

“I didn’t think that when I came in, my first home game, I have walked into the cabins thinking nobody was in there and they were all sat there.

“It shocked me because I thought ‘bloody hell’ there was 18 lads in there in tracksuits not making a sound.

“You think ‘what is that all about?’

“Now it is louder, we had to put music on because nobody would talk. Even on the bus it was so quiet, they had their headphones on and playing games against people 5,000 miles away.

“They had to liven up a bit.’’

Moore has utilised the loan system to his advantage, bringing in a total of eight temporary players. The latest is Jordan Hugill from Preston, who replaces Ryan Bird, who has gone back to Cambridge and could line up against Pools today.

“The loans have done well and kicked one or two up the backside, that has changed the outlook of the players. I’m not too sure whether they believed when we were nine points adrift and it can be hard as a manager,’’ said Moore.

“We are quite capable of winning five and to win the three is a massive lift.

“We have given ourselves the lifeline, nothing else, and we have to take it.

“The massive thing for us is Cambridge, we don’t want to end a week on a low.”

Today’s opponents have struggled of late, winning just one in 13.

Moore said: “They are just having a bad run, they are a big, physical side and we have to match them.

“If we don’t they will bully us. Sooner or later they will change form but hopefully it is next week.”

However, Us boss Richard Money has said that Ryan Bird won’t be involved this afternoon and hasn’t travelled to the North-East.

He spent a solid month on loan at Pools and wanted to stay before being recalled and Money said: "Ryan wanted to come, but I don't think we should add fuel to the circus that would be created,’’ said Money. "If we needed a goal, to make Ryan go into that environment and atmosphere, given what he has done for them in the last month, it would be tough."

And Money, while doing Pools a favour by keeping Bird away, has praised Moore’s efforts: "I'm sure four games ago they wouldn't have thought they could have won four in a row, but now here they are on the threshold of doing that tomorrow.

"It would be harsh on someone like Gareth Ainsworth if Wycombe got promoted or if Shrewsbury won it then (Mickey) Mellon would be in for it, but despite all that if Ronnie Moore gets them out of it, he has to be manager of the year.’’

Tickets have been reduced to £12 for seating and £10 standing today (£6 and £5 concessions) and supporters can pay on the turnstiles.