Hartlepool UNITED tonight face two former players who have both scored against their former club this season. They can scarcely afford to let either Matty Robson or Darryl Duffy cause more harm this evening.

Pools meet Carlisle at Victoria Park in a game they cannot afford to lose because by 10pm tonight, Chris Turner’s side could be the League One relegation zone.

They are currently out of it by a single point.

Robson scored for Carlisle at Brunton Park in a 3-1 win in November, Duffy for Bristol Rovers just a month ago before he headed north on loan.

Playing down the significance of their return, Turner said: “We are up against a couple of our old players who we know, but why should I worry about them?

“I went to watch Carlisle last week, but it was very difficult.

You come away after they played Huddersfield and think ‘blimey’ it would be a tough game on Saturday.

“Then you watch what we have done against Huddersfield in the first 25 minutes of the game and . . . .’’ Robson has become a crowd favourite at Brunton Park since his summer switch. He was always an easy target for the Victoria Park crowd and Carlisle boss Greg Abbott is reaping the reward of giving the left-winger some freedom to attack.

Abbott said: “At Hartlepool, he was told to help out the full-back and we have to get him out of his tendency to keep doing that here. I want him to get forward and attack, and if he drops back, he knows he will get a boot right up the backside.’’ Just two wins in 15 games has dropped Pools down the League One ladder and, with a trip to Millwall to come at the weekend, Pools need some cheer this evening.

“I remember Matty scored a flukey goal at their place with a cross cum shot,’’ said defender Gary Liddle.

“I’ve spoken to Matty a few times and he’s looking forward to coming back here.

“But all the games coming up now are teams in and around ourselves in that bottom half area.

“If we can start picking up results, we haven’t had too many of them lately.

“It’s a game we can win and we’ll be confident of getting it. We knew what the job was in hand before Saturday.

“We were always wary of where we were in the league.

“We’ve had a tough run of games which people didn’t expect us to get points from and it’s proved the case that we haven’t.

“We haven’t been playing too bad. Performances have been alright, but you don’t win things or get in play-offs or stay in the league with good performances.

“You’ve got to get the goals to go with it and keep them out at the other end.’’ Andy Monkhouse is suspended tonight after collecting ten bookings for the season.

He will be replaced on the left wing by either Ritchie Humphreys or Jon-Andre Fredriksen.

POOLS: Flinders; Austin, Collins, Liddle, Hartley; Jones, Sweeney, Gamble, Humphreys; Behan, Boyd.