Plymouth will still be tough says Ron

But Hartlepool United boss Ronnie Moore has warned Pools a showdown with Plymouth Argyle will be “tough”.

The Pilgrims have injuries to key players and have not won in for League Two matches, with two draws and two defeats seeing Derek Adams side slip from first to third in the table.

Ex-Pools centre-back Peter Hartley returned for Argyle’s 2-1 defeat by Cambridge last Saturday while keeper Luke McCormick was on the bench after recovering from a finger injury.

But the quartet of Hiram Boateng, playmaker Graham Carey, Josh Simpson and ace striker Reuben Reid are all struggling.

“They are missing Reid, but we know what that’s like, we’re missing Billy Paynter,” said Moore.

“I saw Plymouth at York and they were brilliant.

“Since then, they have had one or two knocks and found it a bit harder to win of late.

“But they are still third in the league.

“It’s going to be hard, whatever team they have, they are not third for nothing.

“It’s better to be playing them when they are without three or four of their beter players out.

“But because some players are out, it does not mean the players their managers will bring in are not good

“They have a strong squad, I would not be feeling too sorry for them, I bet their manager can still look at his bench and have players who can change a game.

“But it’s down to what we do on the day.

“We need to perform and play at a high tempo.”