HARTLEPOOL United's injury jinx has struck again, with the news that Joel Porter will be ruled out for a fortnight.

The Australian striker made his first start of the season a little over two weeks ago, but he suffered a hamstring strain in last Friday's draw with Barnsley and is ruled out of Saturday's important game at Swindon.

There were fears Porter's knee injury had flared up again, but caretaker boss Paul Stephenson insisted: "It looks like a hamstring but we hope we can get him back in a week or two.

"We didn't want to take any chances. It has been a long way back and you can pick up little injuries after a long spell out."

While Porter misses out, Thomas Butler was man of the match last week, in only his second outing after a hamstring injury.

With Adam Boyd back after injury, Butler is confident Pool have enough quality in their squad to stay out of the bottom four.

"There's no shortage of confidence or belief,'' he said.

"It's been tough, but there are not many teams who have been head and shoulders above us. Things don't look nice right now, but we haven't been really outplayed by teams this season.

"We've had a lot of injuries and now we are getting players back. We know we have enough quality to get out of this situation.''

Pool were on the wrong end of two key decisions against Oldham.

First Lee Bullock conceded a penalty after he was ruled to have handled in the area, before Boyd's second-half goal was chalked off after Michael Proctor was ruled offside.

TV replays showed defender Terrell Forbes had played Proctor onside and Butler said: "It was so disappointing when the decisions went against us. But that's how things have gone for us this season.

"We were in front and playing well. I might be a bit biased, but Lee Bullock is an honest kind of player and there's no intention to use his arm to clear the ball.

"What could he do about it? And I think the referee was influenced by their players around him.

"He seemed to think about it for a while, then give it. It was very disappointing. We have to keep our heads up and keep going.''

He added: "We had another key decision go against us. It looks like the ball went in off the slightest touch and was ruled out.

"But we didn't really have any problems all night and we played well, especially after conceding three goals to the leaders the week before.

"Hopefully we can keep this sort of performance up.''

l Darlington could move within a point of the play-offs tonight, providing their game at Rochdale gets the go-ahead.

The Spotland pitch will be inspected by referee Rob Lewis at 3pm following heavy rain.

If the surface is deemed unplayable it will be the eighth time this season Rochdale have had a home game postponed, including Quakers' original visit last month.

Dale haven't been helped by the fact that they share their pitch with the town's rugby side, who played there on Sunday.

After watching his side edge to within four points of the top seven after Saturday's 4-2 win over Lincoln, manager David Hodgson is keen for the game to go ahead.

He said: "It's a joke that they play rugby on it as well, but all we can do is prepare for the game as normal.

"The weather doesn't look as if it's going to be too bad between now and then."

The heavy conditions may not be to Hodgson's liking, but the Quakers boss will be ensuring his side are well equipped.

"I don't think it will be very pretty, but we've prepared for it in training," said Hodgson.

"We've done some work on playing direct, which doesn't particularly suit us, but we have to forget about the pretty side of things on this occasion."

Rochdale have not won on home soil since November - eight games ago.

While Hodgson admits the pitch will play a big part, he believes there is enough quality in his side to come away with three points.

"It's going to be a lottery for both teams," admitted Hodgson. "But, if you have better players you have a better chance. That's the way I see it."

Jonjo Dickman is ruled out after turning his ankle against Lincoln. James Beaumont, David Duke and Anthony Peacock are all vying for Dickman's place in midfield.

Quakers claimed only their second win in nine games against Lincoln, yet amazingly they remain in contention for a play-off place.

Hodgson said: "If, at the beginning of the season, I was told we would be one point outside the play-offs with six games to go I would have taken it.

"A lot of people gave up on us a long time ago, but now suddenly we find ourselves in a very good position."

* Rochdale's main office can be contacted on 0870 822 1907 for news on this afternoon's pitch inspection.

Read more about Hartlepool here.