Chester FC skipper John McCombe is hoping that the pressure on Hartlepool United from their own supporters tomorrow night will play into the hands of the Blues.
Chester travel to Victoria Park to face a Pools side who have found the going tough in the National League so far following their relegation from the Football League at the end of last season.
Former Airbus UK Broughton and The New Saints boss Craig Harrison took over at the helm during the summer and a host of new players have arrived but Hartlepool, among the title favourites, have been left with just one point from their opening three games so far.
The pressure is already starting to build on Harrison and McCombe is hoping that proves a boon for the Blues tomorrow evening (7.45pm kick off).
“We’re confident in any game,” said McCombe, a summer arrival from Macclesfield Town.
“They lost to Maidenhead so they will obviously be feeling the pressure after one point from three games and dropping down with a new manager, it will be a bit tough for them. But we’ll just concentrate on our game.
“The crowd does come into that in some games. You know how fans are, they can get on your back and being a big club in this league they’ll be expecting them to be top of the league and one point out of three is probably not what they expected. Hopefully we can start well and the fans might get on their back but we’ll just concentrate on what we do on the pitch, play at a high tempo, get in their faces and try and get the three points.”
Chester could welcome striker Nyal Bell back into the fold after he missed Saturday’s 0-0 draw with FC Halifax Town after needing dentistry work following a nasty bang to the mouth against AFC Fylde on Tuesday night.
For Hartlepool, former Chester skipper Luke George, who signed for Pools from the Blues in the summer, is likely to miss out once again as he bids to recover from a hamstring injury that has seen him sidelined for much of pre-season and the start of the new campaign.
