Hartlepool United captain Tom Parkes looks ahead to Saturday’s cup action at the Prestige Group Stadium, as Pools face Northern Premier League Midlands side Anstey Nomads in the third round of the FA Trophy.  

When speaking to local press, the skipper said: “(We’re in) good spirits, had a good week’s worth of training – we want to make sure that we get into the next round of the Cup. 

“The fans have been brilliant for us this season. They get right behind us.

“(We were) disappointed to let them down on Saturday, but the main thing is we go out there (against Anstey) and put a good performance on.” 

Pools suffered defeat against Gainsborough Trinity in their last cup tie, the defender said, “We don’t want to fall into that trap again”. 

He added: “We know that when we played Gainsborough in the FA Cup, it wasn’t good enough – we didn’t perform well. We want to make sure that we get the job done.” 

Over the latest period of matches, Parkes has been crucial to Pools’ backline, starting the last five games, which has seen the side claim three wins and two clean sheets.  

“I’ve enjoyed playing the last four or five games. It is nice to get a run of games, and I’ve enjoyed playing next to Max (Kouogun) at the minute. I think we’ve been quite solid at times”, the captain said.  

Going into the Yeovil match last time out, Nicky Featherstone was made permanent manager after a period of seven games unbeaten in the Enterprise National League, while First Team Coach Elliott Dickman penned down a new contract.

On the management, Parkes told local press: “The gaffer has been fantastic since he’s been here and took the job. Elliott’s been fantastic as well; his training sessions have been brilliant.  

“The lads have been working, and you can see it in the game. You could see what we were trying to do (against Yeovil), we just couldn’t get it over the line when we needed to and didn’t get the result we wanted.”