AFC Fylde players are capable of improvement

Seven days after surrendering a two-goal lead to draw 3-3 with Dorking Wanderers, the Coasters are back at Mill Farm to meet a Hartlepool team for whom Beech played more than 100 times during the 1990s.

Two points from the last 12 see Fylde second-bottom of the division, four points from safety, with this weekend marking the halfway point of their league season.

Nevertheless, the club’s director of football believes their recent results offer cause for optimism.

He said: “We’ve come a long way to be disappointed not winning but drawing a game.

“We’d lost 10 in 15. That’s horrific really so what we need to do is turn that competitive edge and that attacking threat into a team that wins and it wins consistently.

“I know we’re capable. It’s there, it’s right in front of us.

“Let’s tighten up, tidy up and I think we’ll be on course for a good period.”

Fylde won’t be able to call on Alex Whitmore’s services after the former captain joined Solihull Moors for an undisclosed fee.

The 28-year-old joined Moors, who are fourth in the table, on Thursday after four years with Fylde.

Moors boss Andy Whing said: “Alex is a player we have been impressed with for several months and was a player I thought highly of last season during his promotion campaign with Fylde.

“He is a natural leader who has a wealth of experience and brings lots of quality both in and out of possession.”