Hartlepool preview

Just a quickie post today - Christmas is coming, turkeys to slaughter, trees to decorate, presents to wrap etc etc; no time to waste.

Hartlepool away tomorrow, one of the longest trips of the season for our hardy band of away travellers and with the forecast as it is it would not be surprising if a combination of freezing temperatures, ice and snow saw the game called off. The Glovers will hope it goes ahead however, if ever there's a good time to play the Monkey-Hangers it's now, with at least 7 of their already small first-team squad hors de combat through a mixture of injury and suspension, and with them having lost 4 out of their last 5 games. In contrast the Glovers should pretty much be at full strength numbers-wise and on a bit of roll after decent results against the MK Dons and Norwich City.

A good chance to get one over on the bookies then? Let's hope so. Hartlepool are evens favourites for tomorrow's match, the draw is priced at 11/5 and a Glovers win at 11/4. Lump on boys and caution be damned! My fiver's on the away win. Running total: -£1.50p.

Tomorrow's game is notable for the fact that it's likely to be Shaun MacDonald's last outing in a green-and-white shirt for the forseeable future. My fellow Welshman with the Scottish name returns to parent club Swansea City after tomorrow's match with his future uncertain. It seems unlikely that Swansea will want to keep him permanently, and with his contract expiring in the summer they may well be looking to make what money they can from him in the January transfer window. It would be nice to think that Yeovil would be far-sighted enough to make some sort of bid for him - sometimes you have to speculate to accumulate and it's easy to see Shaun following on in Chris Cohen's footsteps to a bigger club in year or so's time - but we all know that's just not going to happen. There's a chance that we might be able to get him back on a long-term loan deal in January if he's not sold, but I'm not holding my breath. Hawddamor Shaun a diolch, you'll be missed.