CHRIS Turner wants Hartlepool United fans to look at the longer-term picture and judge his new-look side in the weeks and months to come.

Two good results away from home in the opening games raised optimism, but that was tainted when Pools lost back-to-back home games to Charlton and Bristol Rovers in the last week.

With ten new signings at Victoria Park this summer, and James Brown returning to action after nine months out with knee ligament damage, Turner firmly believes Pools will soon start to pick up positive results.

They are at Gillingham this afternoon, and Turner said: “I’ve seen a lot of good signs.

Some people will want to knock us; fans get upset if you win five games on the spin and then lose 4-0.

“Fans get upset about anything because they care about their team and that is a good thing. I don’t think anyone could walk away from the ground on Tuesday night and say that the boys didn’t try or weren’t the better team over 90 minutes.

“We’ll all get frustrated but you’ve got to look at what we’re trying to do.’’ His latest signing, striker Billy Greulich, yesterday travelled with the squad to Kent and will be on the bench this afternoon, while striker David Foley has gone to Barrow on loan.

“We’ve built a brand new team in the space of eight weeks,’’ added Turner.

“Some things aren’t going to go our way at first but you look at the bigger picture and ask yourself ‘are things improving?’ and they are.

“I’m not asking for patience from the supporters, I am just saying come along, see the team perform and make your decision on what you see, not what you might want to happen.

“I’ve been in the situation before at this football club where you bring new players in and it takes time for them to settle in and you suffer the odd setback.

“I have asked them for improvement over the last few weeks and they have responded.

They’ve upped the tempo on the pitch and created lots of chances on goal so I’ve no complaints.’’ Meanwhile, Brown is hoping for his second start of the season this afternoon.

He came through 80 minutes of Tuesday’s game unscathed and admitted: “Playing for 80 minutes was more than I expected but is good to get that under my belt.

“I didn’t think that I’d last that long and I was struggling a bit in the second half.

“It is great to be back. It was my first start for ages and even though it was a bad result we played pretty well and I thought that Denis (Behan) and I linked well together.

“He’s great at holding the ball up and I work the channels, so I can see us working well together.’’ Brann Bergen striker Armann Smari Bjornsson could join Pools when his contract expires at the Norwegian season’s end in October.

Reports in the Norweigan press claim interest in the Icelandic international from Turner.

Former Pools keeper Arran Lee-Barrett has signed for Ipswich on a short-term deal after Shane Supple, 22, quit football this week.

He will be on the bench for today’s televised game at West Brom.