Forest Green Rovers are back at home, facing Hartlepool after a week and a half away from action.
Hartlepool come to the New Lawn on a poor streak of form, having lost seven on the bounce in all competitions.
Despite this, the Northeast side have the second-best defence in the bottom half of the table, conceding 17 goals.
Rovers have only lost once in the two sides’ last six meetings, none of which were at GL6.
The opponent – Hartlepool United
Hartlepool currently struggle for form, losing 10 of their last 11 matches in all competitions, and additionally having suffered a 10-0 thumping in the National League Cup.
Due to this, the Monkey Hangers are sitting in the relegation zone, which could see them suffer their second relegation in four years.
Since being relegated from League Two in 22/23, the Northeast side have struggled to challenge for promotion, only finishing inside the top ten once.
Despite their bad form, Saturday’s opposition have managed to beat Barrow, Aldershot and Woking this season.
Forest Green Rovers have never lost to Hartlepool United at home.
Forest Green Rovers caretaker manager Yan Klukowski has taken that confidence when speaking ahead of the game
“The boys have come back really bright, full of energy and enthusiasm, think it was good for them to have a weekend off given the noise around the club last week.”
“The boys on international duty have come back, D’Mani looks fresh, like a new player, first clash, im looking forward to working with him in that form”
The manager – Pete Wild
Rovers will be Pete Wild’s second opponent since being appointed Hartlepool manager on October 2nd 2026.
His first game in charge saw a 1-0 loss to Tamworth at home.
Wild has been managing in League Two for the majority of his coaching career, overseeing Barrow, Fleetwood and Tranmere in the fourth division.
The Manchester-born manager saw success managing Barrow, coming close to the playoff spots in two consecutive seasons, including missing out by just one point in the 23/24 season.
Since that stint in the Northwest, he has gone on to manage two midtable seasons for Fleetwood as well as surviving relegation at Tranmere last season.
When speaking on his clash with Pete, Yan said.
“We have things to tweak to make sure were more solid, more ruthless in both boxes, we’ve been working on that this week and well make sure to do those things on Saturday”
“We need to focus on what were good at as individuals, and send a clear message on what the objectives for the season are”
One to watch – Jordan Hugill
Despite struggling in his start to life in the National League, Hugill has experience near the top level of English football, playing in the Championship for multiple years and even making Premier League appearances.
In January 2017, the 34-year-old striker signed for West Ham in the Premier League after scoring 28 goals in 108 appearances for Preston North End.
Despite only making three appearances for the Hammers, Hugill went on to play five more seasons in the Championship, particularly enjoying success at QPR and Middlesbrough.
The target man is yet to get off the mark at his new club but will be one to watch at GL6 on Saturday.
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