RICHIE BARKER believes variety is vital when it comes to taking penalties.

Hartlepool United's top scorer netted from the spot on Easter Monday to secure a win over Accrington Stanley and put his side within touching distance of League One.

But he missed from 12 yards in the first half and, after successfully smashing home his other two spot kicks for Pools, the hard-working front man is wary of goalkeepers taking note of his style.

"The first one was a different type of penalty, it is something I have been working on in training," said Barker.

"People do their homework and goalkeepers watch the Football League review on television and all that type of stuff, so they get to know what you can and can't do.

"It was just something that I thought I could do that was different but it didn't quite work out as planned."

After rolling his first wide, he rifled the second to the keeper's right, making no mistake.

"I don't really know what the keeper did because I just set off running, but somebody told me that he didn't actually move so there you go," said Barker.

"But the first one was poor - I have let the team down and also the fans in the first half, so hopefully my goal will have gone a long way towards making amends."

The win put Pools as good as up, as they boast a better goal difference than MK Dons, the only side outside the promotion spots who can catch them.

Pools should get promotion mathematically at Wycombe on Saturday and Barker said: "We still have to get one more point to make it absolutely certain.

"But we can relax a little bit and we'll have a couple of days off before we get ready for Wycombe and aiming for that championship title."