Hartlepool midfielder Ritchie Humphreys believes the recent respite could help revive his club's season.Danny Wilson's men took advantage of an enforced break in the fixtures last weekend to recharge their batteries after a gruelling winless festive period.

Humphreys is now hoping Pools can return to action at Northampton on Saturday refreshed and determined to end a six-game winless streak away from Victoria Park.

"With so many games over short a space of time over the festive period hopefully the break will have done the lads a bit of good," he said. "It's been physical on the training field this week and obviously with no game at the weekend it's important to top-up our fitness levels."

Looking ahead to the trip to Northampton, Humphreys told the club's official website: "I think we're next to each other in the table so we have to do our utmost to get ourselves back into the top half and hopefully we can progress from there."

Striker Joel Porter, meanwhile, will step up his rehabilitation from a knee injury in a reserve outing against Grimsby on Wednesday night.

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