Rotation Creation

The Pilgrims' 46th - but not last - league game of the season sees Pools make the long trip down to Home Park with their status in the division comfortably in tact, kicking on nicely in the second half of the season under Craig Hignett.

The visitors will find it difficult to prepare for what they will come up against, though, with Adams expecting to name a rather different line-up to the side that drew 2-2 with Cambridge United last weekend. 

 

"Hartlepool are coming here and having a good season," said Derek, "by progressing on last year, moving further up the table.

"As a team, as a football club, that's what you try and achieve at the start of the season: to be in a better position and be on more points than you were the previous season.

 

"There's an opportunity for the likes of [Gregg] Wylde and [Craig] Tanner to play on Saturday - players who have played a lot of games this season."

Understandably, the boss is already placing some of his focus on next Thursday, when the Greens will face Portsmouth in the first leg of their play-off semi-final. Finding the balance between staying competitive on Saturday and not risking anything for next week is difficult, but Derek is keeping the objective simple: win on Saturday, and win on Thursday.

"As in every game, we want to try and win the match," said Adams. "It doesn't matter what side we put out: we want to win the game.

"There's obviously points to play for for both sides, because in years to come nobody remembers the week leading up to the game; they look at the points total and what they finished on.

"We've just got to get over this game on Saturday, and then prepare for the Thursday game. We've got a few injuries in the team, a wee bit of illness, so we're just looking to try and get through this Saturday, and get ourselves prepared for next Thursday."