GRAEME Lee says he has inherited an honest group of hard working players after maintaining his one hundred per cent start as Hartlepool United manager.

Mark Shelton scored the winner in injury time winner to hand Pools a 2-1 victory over Rochdale last night at the Suit Direct Stadium. Mark Cullen found an equaliser for the home side after Josh Andrews had given Dale the lead in the second half.

Lee has won both of his games in the dugout so far and has now ended a slump in form that saw Pools lose five games on the spin.

“Last minute winner, I think we will all take them. I still wasn’t happy there was two minutes left” Lee joked.

“The pleasing thing is you’ve come from a goal down, we’ve struggled in the previous games, and we’ve come back. They showed a bit of character.

“We knew they would have a lot of the ball. I think Rochdale are a very good team and they will be contenders come the end of the season. We knew it was a challenging game. But we stuck at it. We kept going and we knew we could hurt them on transitions and when we won the ball.

“The first goal was exactly what we thought would happen. The first touch from Cullen and the pass from Shelton was fantastic.”

The victory has lifted them up to 12th in the League Two table and they are now eleven points above the relegation zone. On the flip side, they are just five points off the play-offs.

Since the departure of Dave Challinor, the league form has hit a stumbling block which Lee hopes to arrest in the coming weeks.

Lee has been with his squad for a short period of time but understands what he has at his disposal.

The 43-year-old added: “You come back from 1-0 down so you analyse what you want from the game. Make sure you don’t get beat.

“Looking at the back line when we are attacking and squeezing up, I’m looking and then the ball goes in.

“I said to Shelts (Mark Shelton) after the game, what are you doing in the box? He said ‘you told me to get in.’

“You want to win home games, that’s our main thing. We want to be a challenge and not make games easy at home. To get that last minute winner, for the lads themselves.

“Since coming in, from what Sweens (Antony Sweeney) has told me, they are an honest bunch of lads and they work hard everyday and push each other.

“There is a squad of players who work and push each other throughout. It showed when the two lads (Joe Grey and Tom Crwaford) came on. The impact they made on the game was massive for us.

“A great reward from two cup games. You love it but the league is the important one and to get the win is fantastic for us all.”

Next up for Lee and his Pools side is another home game where bottom of the league Scunthorpe United make the trip to Hartlepool.