HARTLEPOOL United are hoping a bout of Friday night fever will push them to the edge of the play-offs.

Tenth-placed Pool entertain Macclesfield tonight as they look to build on the four points picked up on the road in the last week and put some pressure on the teams above them.

Their previous experiment with Friday football - a 1-1 draw with Rochdale on November 30 - brought the second-highest gate of the season.

Now boss Chris Turner is hoping for a similar turnout in excess of 4,000 as the chase for a top-seven spot warms up.

"We are hoping for a decent crowd - that's why we are playing on Friday night,'' said Turner. "If we can get a good atmosphere inside the ground and if the boys get in front and get an early goal then hopefully we can have another good home performance like some of those we have had of late.

"A lot of people like to go out on a Friday night and have a drink, and a football match can entertain them and cheer them up. Hopefully we can get their night off to a good start.''

Pool have kept clean sheets in drawing at Rochdale and winning at Carlisle in the last six days as Turner switched to a three-man defence.

Now he has to decide whether to return to the 4-4-2 system that has brought a much more exciting brand of football to Victoria Park or stick with the 3-5-2 the players have reverted to so easily in the last week.

"We changed back to 3-5-2 and everyone has done it really, really well,'' said Turner. "Saturday's game went to plan and so did Tuesday's - we couldn't ask any more. At Bristol Rovers, Rochdale and Carlisle it worked well and we have looked very solid in keeping clean sheets in those away games.

"That's something we can look at and think towards next season.

"Whether we change or stay the same is a big thing. We have conceded one goal in the last couple of home games where a clean sheet would have won those games. Now we are at the stage of the season where performances aren't everything; it's the result that matters. I still believe we can score goals playing 3-5-2.

"We have been difficult to beat and difficult to play against. I'm pleased with the last two games.''

The switch has seen Darrell Clarke move into a central midfield role, a position he occupied for Mansfield before moving to Pool last summer, and Turner said: "In the last two games, Darrell Clarke has been magnificent.

"The amount of running he has been doing, closing down the opposition and getting beyond the strikers has been magnificent. As I said when I bought him he is a real box to box midfielder.''

Turner has added James Coppinger and Adam Boyd to the 16 on duty at Brunton Park. Coppinger's two-month loan stint from Newcastle ends tonight and the Pool boss has to decide if he will stay a further month.