OF all the games to miss, Chris Westwood had to be suspended from Hartlepool United's game of the season in front of the biggest Victoria Park crowd in almost 13 years.

Former manager Chris Turner is back in town tonight with his Sheffield Wednesday side and Victoria Park is an all-ticket sell-out.

Westwood has been suspended only once before, in December 2000, after accumulating five bookings.

But tonight he takes his place in the stands after his first red card in over 200 games. His dismissal against West Brom in the Carling Cup a fortnight ago, and the subsequent rejection of his appeal, sees him miss the game against the manager he played for at Wolves then followed to Pool in 1999.

"I'm gutted, absolutely gutted to miss it,'' he moaned. "It's typical that I miss this one - we've just been to Bournemouth but it couldn't be that could it? No, it had to be Sheffield Wednesday.

"But I know that whoever comes in will do a good job - we have a great squad of players here.''

Pool have already beaten the Owls this season, triumphing 5-4 on penalties in the Carling Cup at Hillsborough.

Westwood's central defensive partnership with Graeme Lee - who scored the opener in that match in August - was the rock on which Pool's recent successes were built.

Last season the pair were first and second in The Northern Echo's player of the year awards.

That relationship was broken in the summer when Lee moved to Hillsborough, but Westwood's form has never waned, and his partnership with Micky Nelson is as good, if not better, than the previous axis.

Lee's game has also flourished on the bigger stage - he was voted the Owls' player of the month for September.

"Me and Nelse are getting on great,'' said Westwood. "He is a similar type of player to Spike, both big lads who are dominant in the air. Nelse has a little bit of extra pace which helps as well.

"We complement each other well and the good thing for me is that I have been able to carry on playing the way I have been for the last few seasons.

"There is always the doubt that when someone new comes in you won't gel, but we hit it off straight away.

"I'll be onto Spike before the game in the ground, I might remind him about all the mistakes he has made in the past.''

Former Pool winger Paul Smith is injured and Westwood added: "We are looking forward to playing against Chris and Colin West, but it's not only about those two coming back, it's about that fact we are playing Sheffield Wednesday, who are a massive club. They were in the Premiership not long ago.

"I think it will be the same for every team in this division. They will all look forward to playing them and will raise their game against them.

"We are right on top of each other in the league, but that doesn't matter - like I said, it's the fact it is Sheff Wed, and that adds a lot of pressure on them.

"Chris Turner has gone back to the club he supported as a kid and it's a dream job for him.''

Turner admits he is trying to build a team at Hillsborough, modelled on the version he built at Pool from 1999 to last November.

"They work very hard, are playing with confidence and are everything I am trying to build up here,'' he revealed. "I think Hartlepool are as good as anyone who has gone up out of the Third Division, notably Rotherham who are in the First Division.

"When I first went there you had to kick every ball and shout instructions for 90 minutes, which is what is happening here. We've got to get to the position where I know how every player is going to perform nine times out of ten.

"Our fans who go there will find a neat and tidy ground and a playing surface second to none in the country.''

Micky Barron could move to central defence tonight, with Paul Arnison or Jon Bass coming in at right-back.

Andrew Jordan and Mark Tinkler are other possibles to replace Westwood.

Read more about Hartlepool here.