DAYS after what he described as his worst moment in football, Neil Austin reckons Hartlepool United have what it takes to turn their season around.

Pools are at Brentford today, under the caretaker command of Micky Barron following Neale Cooper's resignation.

Cooper quit following Tuesday night's defeat at Bury, a result that put Pools bottom of League One and facing an big battle to get out of the bottom four after recording only one win this season.

Austin missed a second-half penalty at Gigg Lane, striking the crossbar from 12 yards as Pools chased back a two-goal deficit.

Ryan Noble's wonder goal got them back into the game at 2-1 and, while a successful Austin penalty might not have been enough to stop Cooper from ending his turmoil and leaving the club, the right back could not hide his feelings.

"There was pressure on me with the penalty,'' he reflected. "Ryan wanted to take it, but I scored the week before. This one has hit the bar.

"I've said it's the worst feeling I've had on the pitch. Jobs are on the line, careers the same for people and I've let them all down.

"I knew where I was going with the penalty. Keepers do their homework now and I was always going the other way to the last couple I've taken. It was always in my mind.

"It's heading in, I thought it was nice, then it rises and my heart sunk when it stayed out. The fans at Bury, back home, those on the bench, on the pitch, everyone feels it.''

Darrell Clarke, the one-time Pools midfielder, remains the bookies' favourite for the manager's job, rated at 3-1. Dave Penney yesterday expressed his interest in the position, the former Darlington boss - favourite for the job when Cooper was appointed last December - is 12/1.

Colin Cooper, the Middlesbrough academy coach was installed in the running yesterday.

But, whoever takes over, Austin is convinced will be taking on a dressing room willing and capable of turning the situation around.

While the players became somewhat distant from Cooper as the season unravelled into a mess, Austin insists the unity within the camp can turn things around.

"Everyone was down in the dressing room on Tuesday and now it's up to us to get it going again, keep our heads up,'' he admitted.

"There's nothing to lose now. We are bottom and I've never been in scrap like this before, I've never been relegated. We need to stand up and be counted.

"We have got ourselves in this position, now we need to get out of it, the same players.

"It's a fight to stay up now, everyone has to do everything right on and off the training pitch and make sure the finer details are all done right because they all add up.

"We can get out of it, no doubt at all. There's a lot of ability here, confidence is a big thing and one win will take us on.

"This can be a turning point, maybe for us. We have to be positive and cannot get any lower. We go to Brentford with no pressure.''

He added: "We can't get any lower, can't get any more down. We need to gee each other up, stick together and keep going, no-one fall out and demand the best off each others to see what they can do to improve.''

Penney was at Victoria Park earlier this month for Pools' 1-1 draw with Doncaster, when he was commentating for BBC Radio Sheffield.

He left Quakers in 2009 and has since had a brief spell at Bristol Rovers.

"I know Hartlepool as a club and I enjoyed my time in the area," he said.

"I've get up to date with how they're doing and obviously it's not good at the moment.

"They're bottom of the table and need to get out of that position as quickly as possible.

"But they've got a few good lads there who I know already

"I had Neil Austin and Evan Horwood at Darlington and the goalkeeping coach Andy Collett was also there.

"So we'll have to see what happens."

Pools home game with Tranmere has been put back 24 hours to Wednesday, November 7. Rovers are involved in a televised FA Cup game on Sunday, November 4.