KEITH CURLE is hoping his patched-up Hartlepool United side will continue to show their battling spirit when they host National League Solihull Moors in an FA Cup first-round replay tomorrow night.

Pools will take on Soluhill at the Suit Direct Stadium a week-and-a-half after the sides’ initial first-round tie ended in a 2-2 draw in the Midlands, with the winners of tomorrow’s game due to host Harrogate Town in the second round a week on Saturday.

Pools head into tomorrow’s game having won just one of their last eight matches in all competitions, and saddled with an injury list that is once again expected to see them without key defensive trio Jamie Sterry, Alex Lacey and Rollin Menayese.

It remains to be seen whether David Ferguson can play two games in the space of four days after he returned from an injury lay-off of his own to start as a makeshift centre-half in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Stevenage, but Curle is not about to start bemoaning his luck as he attempts to turn Pools’ stuttering season around.

While his side remain in the bottom two after Saturday’s defeat, which was inflicted by a bizarre goal that saw Danny Rose nip in to tap home after goalkeeper Ben Killip had rolled the ball in front of him, Curle saw enough positive signs to remain optimistic ahead of tomorrow’s replay.

“We’re being competitive,” said the Pools boss. “Mark my words, other teams within this division will also have this period. I don’t wish it on any football clubs, but they know that, on average, you usually work on 20 per cent of your squad being unavailable, whether that’s injuries or suspensions, at a given time.

“Throughout the season, you can touch on 30 to 35 per cent of your squad being unavailable. This is our period of time – and we need to get through it.”

Solihull’s form has dipped since their draw with Pools – their two subsequent league games have resulted in defeats to Halifax and Dagenham & Redbridge – but they remain sixth in the National League table, just eight places below Pools in the pyramid.

Andrew Dallas, who scored in the first game, suffered an injury in the Halifax defeat and was not involved against Dagenham, and remains a doubt for the replay, with Josh Kelly on standby to replace him.