Hello and welcome to my latest Blog here on the Official Website.

Looking back on Saturday's game at Millwall and one of the big talking points among the lads after the game was the pitch. To be fair, it was a nice stadium but I think the weather had taken a big toll on the pitch - there was that much sand on it, we would have been better with a bucket and spade than a football.

The pitch wasn't heavy leg-wise but to get your touch was hard as the ball didn't bounce that well on the sand but if it caught the hard mud, it bounced over your head. It was hard to judge the ball really but I think we coped quite well with it overall.

We made some decent chances in the game but we just aren't scoring them and a lot of the blame for that has to lie with the strikers.

We definitely are trying to score, we want to get those goals but they are just not falling for us at the minute, there's always something getting in the way.

But we'll keep working hard in training - we are doing that bit extra all the time to try and get that instinct right to get that ball to bounce right for us. We are doing everything in our power to rectify what is going wrong.

Every game we play now is crucial - we are at that stage in the season, we have thirteen games left now and if we don't get a good few wins from that, then we'll find ourselves in a position that we don't rightfully deserve to be in.

Now we are playing those teams in and around us and we have to start picking up the points that we deserve now.

My old teammate Roy O'Donovan has come in to help with this and, although he has taken my position, I'll still welcome him to the Club!

Roy is a great acquisition for us, he has the pace we need up front. Myself and Boydy obviously have the pace of Usain Bolt but we only use that on the odd occasion! It takes a brave lad to come from the Premier League to League One to get football but he is doing that because he wants to get games under his belt. He wants to do well for the Club and for himself and that can only be good for us.

He is a great addition to the squad - it is really easy for me to play up front with Roy because I know how he plays. He's a great player and a great acquisition by the Club.

He's also another addition to the Irish mafia - we're slowly taking over. You don't know it until we turn up and take over - we only need a couple more and we'll officially be Hartlepool Eire!

Seriously though, there is a silent determination between the players at the moment. We know we are just a little bit away from being a really good side - I think we are putting that effort in. We have stepped training up another level and that can only be a good thing.

On a different note, it was great to see my Behan's Babes over here for the Huddersfield game. It is great to have fans like that who will travel to see me play even though I have left the club they support.

Speaking of Cork City and it was sad to see them go bust last week. The club has now been taken over by the fans and a co-operative and it will now be known as Cork City Foras Co-Op. I am sure fans such as the two Behan's Babes will be part of the group of supporters who now own the club and they will help to push them forward.

The Babes brought a load of Cork City stuff over for us and took double the amount of Hartlepool stuff back with them - they are certainly spreading the word over in Ireland. The Babes know their football and I don't know what I have done to deserve fans like that!!

Finally, we had the following question sent in this week:

Why is it you never mention how the youth team is getting on in you're blog ? and why don't you mention how the other players are getting on such as Leon McSweeney who is away from family as well?
Stephen Behan

Now, Stephen is my brother and in answer to his question, I'd just like to say - if you want to speak to me, pick up the phone and do it!!

If you have any questions for me, email them in to media@hartlepoolunited.co.uk and I'll answer them in my next blog.

Denis