HARRISON WILL BE HONEST AND TO THE POINT TO PLAYERS AFTER FRIENDLY DISAPPOINTMENTS

Honesty will be the policy for new Hartlepool United boss Craig Harrison. The Pools boss says he will tell the players ‘as it is’ though there are unlikely to be any public ‘executions’ as he keeps his views within the dressing room. Harrison let the players know of his disappointment at last Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Harrogate Town, where Pools conceded two second-half goals. And there was frustration on Tuesday night when Pools lost by the smae scoreline against Sunderland, with the score having been 1-1 going into the last minute. “I spoke with the team and they accepted what I said,” he explained. “I’m always going to be honest, there were a few home truths said but we are all big enough boys to accept it. “It’s done in the right way and it’s done to make people better, to make the team and the club better. “It’s done so we can get out of the National League as soon as possible.” Harrison stressed that Tuesday night “was very pleasing”, given they way Pools performed against a very powerful Black Cats squad. It took two superbly-placed dead-ball strikes to beat Pools, who scored a wellexecuted goal of their own when Jack Munns set up Ryan Donaldson. The Pools boss delivered plenty of pats on the back but wants players to learn from the bits which go wrong. “I’m just still disappointed, whether it’s pre-season or not does not matter,” he added. “We’ve not come away with a positive result. “We’ve had a really positive performance but we need to make sure we see those games out, and we do that by making good decisions. “It was 99% positive for me but those negatives are always good to look at it. “How do you stop them [from happening], how do you cut them out? “When we do that we will be a better team. “We’ve point them out [the mistakes] and the players accepted it. “They accepted it on Saturday and they accepted it on Tuesday night.” Harrison takes his side to St Johnstone on Saturday (2pm) and will be looking to start with players who did not make the XI against Sunderland.