Notts County v Hartlepool United: Jones hopes Pools have turned a corner ahead of Meadow Lane six-pointer

Jones believes teams can make their own luck and hopes there has been a turning point at Hartlepool United.

Pools were grateful to the assistance of the crossbar last week against Exeter, who also had appeals for a penalty turned down at 1-1, with Padraig Amond scoring from the counter-attack to put his side in front over Paul Tisdale’s high-fliers .

“Sometime you need a bit of luck,” smiled Jones.

“I listened to Tis’s comments, he thought they were in control but I thought we were!

“After looking back on the game, we had a lot of passages of play, it was just the last third or final ball where we broke down.

“Second half, we changed one or two little bits, press them higher, which we did.

“You could see the confidence flow. A lot of ingredients go into the pot to win matches and sometimes you need an ingredient called luck.

“We got that little bit of luck.”

Jones has warned his players that tomorrow – away to relegation rivals Notts County – he wants no repeat of the goal they conceded to Ollie Watkins last week.

“The goal was too similar to the goal we conceded against Plymouth when the player has come in field, we need to engage them quicker,” he said.

Jones added there would be no special measures where striker Shola Ameobi was concerned after County boss Kevin Nolan signed his old Newcastle team-mate.

Meanwhile, Nicky Deverdics is back at Hartlepool United from his loan spell at Dover Athletic – and back in the squad at Notts County.

The 29-year-old played five times for the club he left to join Pools last summer, winning two, drawing two and losing one.

Deverdics had not featured under Jones – his last appearance being the 3-2 win over Morecambe at the end of last year – and the boss wanted him to play games and vowed to have him watched.

Both boxes have been ticked and Jones is delighted to have the talented left-footer back in town.

“I’ve called Nicky back, we are short of senior players,” he said.

“It’s been good for Nicky, he had to go out and play games and he’s done well.

“Dover wanted to keep him bit I’ve had to drag him back.

“That tells you he’s back in the squad. I wouldn’t pull him back if he wasn’t.”

The return of Deverdics coincides with the exit of Sean Kavanagh.

The defender, who is on loan at the Vic until the end of the season, has gone back to Fulham for treatment after suffering a recurrence of his hamstring problem.

Kavanagh limped off just before the half-hour mark of last Saturday’s 3-1 victory over Exeter City, with youngster Kenton Richardson coming off the bench and back into the fray.

The teenager will be part of an unchanged back four alongside in-form central defenders Scott Harrison and Brad Walker and the versatile Liam Donnelly.

Jones says Pools will await a report from the Championship club on the Irishman.

“It’s Kav’s hamstring, same problem, but it’s more fatigue than anything,” said the boss.

“He’s gone back to Fulham, who will look after him, assess him and wait for the reports from them.”

Pools (probable): Fryer, Richardson, Walker, Harrison, Donnelly, Featherstone, Woods, Alessandra, Thomas, Oates, Amond. Subs (from): Bartlett, Martin, Bates, Hawkins, Hawkes, Deverdics, Rooney, Orrell