CHRIS Turner takes his Hartlepool United side to Shrewsbury Town today determined to inflict misery on one of his old foes.

Former Everton skipper Kevin Ratcliffe is now in charge of the Shrews and the two came up against one another on numerous occasions during their playing careers.

Turner, whose career saw him wear the Manchester United, Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland goalkeeping jerseys, has the greatest respect for Ratcliffe.

And the Pool boss knows his old adversary's team will be no pushovers when the two clash at Gay Meadow this afternoon.

"Me and Kevin go back a long way," said Turner. "We enjoyed some good matches while I was at Sheffield Wednesday and Manchester United.

"I'm sure he will have his side playing well because he is one of the better managers in this league."

Shrewsbury went one better than Pool last Saturday by winning on the opening day of the season - 1-0 at Plymouth Argyle.

But Turner was encouraged by his team's draw with Mansfield Town and is convinced they can pull a result out of the bag in Shropshire.

"Last season we won nine matches away from home so we have got to be confident," he said.

"We have got to repeat that away record again this time around.

"It's our first match away from Victoria Park and we are happy with how things are shaping up.

"We have been working on going forward during the past week and getting better balls into the strikers."

Meanwhile, Pool defender Chris Westwood is also relishing the battle, with former Nottingham Forest and Wednesday striker Nigel Jemson set to test him this afternoon.

Westwood, along with fellow centre-backs Graeme Lee and Michael Barron, will have the task of keeping Jemson quiet.

And the Pool defender, who was born 40 minutes down the road in Dudley, is relishing the challenge.

He said: "Playing against experienced players is always different.

"And when we come up against Jemson I know that he will know what he is doing. He doesn't need to be quick against us.

"What you normally find is that players like him have little bits of movement that cause you problems. It is not quick movement, they just have good thinking.

"Jemson is also a good passer of the ball and he is a good finisher, but I am confident the three of us at the back will be able to contend with him, and whoever else is up front."

That is likely to be highly-rated 19-year-old Luke Rodgers and not former Victoria Park flop Chris Freestone.

Freestone, who joined the Shrews just over a year ago, is Ratcliffe's fourth choice front-man and the 29-year-old is likely to find himself on the bench because of an ankle injury to Ryan Lowe.

Rodgers on the other hand is very much in favour, and Cardiff City had a £500,000 bid turned down for the forward during the summer.

While Jemson will provide the experience, Rodgers is sure to be the quicker of the two and Pool will have to be on their guard.

Hartlepool have been given the go-ahead to reopen the Millhouse Stand for Monday's Worthington Cup clash with Nottingham Forest. The club advise fans to buy tickets in advance but they will be available on the night.

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