Hartlepool boss Danny Wilson is bracing himself for a rough ride when Paul Sturrock and Swindon Town arrive at Victoria Park tomorrow.

Wilson expects Town to employ the direct approach in their bid to leave the north-east with three points and warns his players must be up for the fight.

He said: "Last week at Leeds it was a very open game because they allowed us the space to play.

"The Swindon match will be completely different from the Leeds one and the line-up will have to reflect that.

"Swindon will come to the Vic and try to keep it tight.

"They have dangerous forwards, like Lee Peacock, and will look to win the second balls off him, so we have to be wary of it.

"It will be a battle early on and we will have to win that if we want to earn the right to play our own game."

Wilson is fully aware of the current takeover situation at the County Ground but insists this will not affect the Robins' focus ahead of tomorrow's clash.

He said: "There has been a fair bit going on off the pitch at Swindon but you find that players rarely bother themselves with that sort of thing.

"They will just go about their business as usual.

"They have made a solid start to the season and are a tough side to break down when they are away from home."

Pools will still be without midfielders Tony Sweeney and Willie Boland but they have no fresh injury worries going into the weekend.

Wilson is confident his side will be able to cope, and is backing them to avenge the 1-0 reverse they suffered at the hands of Swindon on the opening day of last season.

"The great thing for us is that, despite a couple of injuries, we have plenty of options of how we want to play it," he said.

"A few of the lads are comfortable in a number of positions and that means that we can easily adapt to different games.

"I thought we were brilliant last week and the only thing that was missing was finding the back of the net.

"I think our own fans were pleased with how we played and the emails and letters we have received this week from Leeds fans have been very complimentary, which is nice.

"But we don't want to be getting told how well we played each week without having the points to show for it.

"The lads were frustrated last week and it is something they are determined to put right on Saturday."