With a game missed due to the weather at the weekend, the focus for manager Paul Simpson and his staff on Saturday afternoon was immediately switched to the visit of Hartlepool tonight.
“With having no Bradford game it meant that I could start to look at Hartlepool sooner than I otherwise would have,” he said. “It’s disruptive, but there’s no point in worrying about it.
“We can’t change it, and once we knew that there was a threat to it going ahead I’d already started to talk to Gav and Jamie Roper about what we were going to do.
“It became about looking at how we would best get ready for Tuesday night. We got our plan in place quickly, we had programmes ready for the players for Sunday, and they all stuck to that.
“We trained today [Monday], that went well, so we’ll be ready to go when we face Hartlepool. We’ve got make sure that we take the energy we didn’t expend on Saturday into this next game.
“We were actually able to get on our own training pitch as well, so it was a bit of a novelty to get out on grass again, to be honest.
“We looked at the forecast and I said to the players on Saturday that we would be on our training pitch, and I think that gave everybody a lift. That might sound stupid but that’s what we all want to do.
“The sessions have been good, but we have to make sure we take it into the game. Hartlepool will be up for it. I watched their game against Rochdale on the stream we had and they fought and competed.
“We know it’s a game that will be tough, we know they’re going to be scrapping, because they put in a really aggressive performance on Saturday. We have to match what they do and hope that we have more energy in our approach than they have.”
With some better recent results lifting the mood for Pools, it’s certainly a game that has to be approached in the right way.
“Teams get confidence from winning games,” he commented. “We saw that with us last year. We won the game at Orient and everybody found a bit of belief and momentum.
“We’ve got to make sure that any belief or momentum that they did get from Saturday, we keep it down by doing what we need to do. We’ve got to make sure that we’re right, and I fully expect us to be right for the game, and I’m looking forward to seeing what we do.
“It’s game number 26 and it’s the 26th tough game of the season. We’ve got to make sure we approach it properly. That’s what I’ve said to the players, and I’ve shown them the strengths of what Hartlepool will have, and we’ve also highlighted things we might be able to exploit.
“That’s no different, we do it for every opposition, and if our players go and perform to the level that they’re capable of, and get to the level we found in the second half at Hartlepool when we went there, we should give ourselves a really good chance of getting a result that we all want.”
The midweek fixture, of course, brings former manager Keith Curle back to Brunton Park.
“It’s the next game for him, he won’t view it as anything else,” he told us. “I hope he gets a good welcome because he did well when he was here. But that’s all I hope he gets.
“I want the supporters to give him a good welcome but I want him to ultimately be going away with nothing. I want it to be a really tough night for him and his players, but we’ll only do that if we’re right.
“If we aren’t, it’ll be them giving us a tough night, let’s make no mistake about that. They have players who can cause problems, their strikers Hamilton and Umerah are a handful, and they have a style of play that’s really tough to play against.
“If they get into their stride they have players who will chase everything and they have players in midfield who can use the ball well, in Featherstone and Dolan.
“They’ve got something about them, and it obviously hasn’t worked on a consistent basis so far, so we have to do our work to make sure this is one where it doesn’t happen for them again.”
United head into Tuesday night with some healthy selection problems.
“I’m going with the same team that would have started against Bradford, because I take each game as they come, and I hadn’t even started looking at Hartlepool before Saturday,” he explained. “It’s a similar shape, or I’m expecting a similar shape, so the team will go again.
“Hopefully it’s the right one. The really good thing is that we have a strong bench with some real options who can come on and finish the game for us.
“With it being a Tuesday it’s possible that the crowd won’t be as big, and but I know they’ll be up for it. I hope they come in and support us, and I do accept that it’s different on a Tuesday to a Saturday.
“There are different obstacles to stop people from coming in midweek, but we really want them here. We want the supporters backing us.
“Stripping it back, I want the fans here for the financial benefits we get from that. We need as many people as we possibly can. Let’s make it a good atmosphere and give the players something to go for.”
We took the opportunity to grab a quick update on the injury and transfer window situation.
“There’s nothing different in either situation from last time we spoke,” he said. “Scott Simons had his operation last week, so he starts his rehab now.
“Jack Ellis is back out on the grass, starting to build up his running and power in his hamstring. He’s been very good. When I’ve seen him in the gym in the early part of his rehab, his attitude has been excellent.
“Him and Josh Dixon are out on the grass running together, two young lads who are desperate to get back into the football and get back playing again. Hopefully with Jack Ellis being young, he will recover as quick as possible and will be back available soon.
"Apart from that there’s no real change. Taylor and Ryan are still doing their rehab, they’ve got weeks and weeks to go. Same group that went to Bradford, hopefully we’re as prepared as we can be.”
“On the window, even though I keep being told that we have players who are targets I haven’t had a single call to ask about anybody.
“There’s been no calls at all about that kind of thing. I don’t want any to come, and it’s exactly the same if one does come.
“I’m hoping that players will only leave because it’s an absolutely ridiculous offer that the club can’t refuse or that it’s right for the player and their long-term future.
“We’ve had nothing, and I’m not looking to bring anybody else in at this moment in time either. We’ll just keep going as well as we possibly can.”
And he concluded with an update on the players who will be out of contract come the end of this campaign.
“We’ve had some early discussions amongst the staff about how we want to do it,” he told us. “The problem you have is, if you start talking to players about contracts now, and you can’t agree, they’re unsettled until the end of the season.
“I think the stance we will probably take is similar to last year – we won’t be making any final decisions until the end of the season.
“We obviously have a plan in place, I’ve got a squad visual on my computer that I have an idea about what I want next season, who’s under contract, who we have options on to keep at the club, and who’s out of contract who we’d like to keep.
“We have an idea of what areas we then need to strengthen. We’ll continue to have those conversations, but I would be really surprised if we start sitting down with players and starting to negotiate.
“The chances are all of these players will want more money than we can afford to pay them. No point unsettling them, we just have to accept we’ve got to go to the end of the season, then we’ll see how we are in terms of league position, what league we’re in, and what finances are going to be available to us.”