Dave Challinor insists his scouting trip to Notts County proved a worthwhile mission and believes he has identified ways in which he can dent their promotion push.
The Pools boss was in the stands to watch the Magpies’ 1-1 draw against Woking last weekend after their game at Solihull Moors was postponed.
Notts had to fight back from a goal down to take a point against the Cards at Meadow Lane where Kristian Dennis’ goal wiped out Max Kretzschmar’s opener.
And Challinor, who took his seat in the press box, says he learned a great deal about Neal Ardley’s side as Pools and Notts prepare to clash on Saturday.
“Straight away, rather than playing our own game and being focused on us on a Saturday before reflecting on Sunday, we’ve been given an extra 24-48 hours to prepare for this Saturday,” he told the Hartlepool Mail.
“We can put things in place by seeing in the live game where we can potentially cause them problems.
“The game at Notts County wasn’t a great game, it survived the wind but it wasn’t a great day to play football and Notts County didn’t play well but Woking can do that to teams to be fair and are good at what they do.
“Woking should have won the game and will feel aggrieved that they didn’t come away with three points.
“From my perspective, there were loads of positives in terms of where we can cause them problems but we also need to be wary that they’re a threat themselves.
“It will be a tough game and it’s two big football clubs who ultimately want to get back to where they’ve spent most of their history.
“I’m expecting the atmosphere to be great but hopefully, the weather won’t spoil things for us again.”
