Graham Coughlan has 'full faith' that Boston United will avoid National League relegation

The battling Pilgrims are back in the mix to beat the National League drop after a brilliant run of form helped them claw back a daunting 12 point deficit.

That stunning run of away wins was halted by a 4-1 beating at Hartlepool at the weekend, with Coughlan keen to quickly move on.

“It just wasn't our day,” he said. “The little moments didn't go our way, we are disappointed but we have to let the moment go and move on.

"We caused ourselves a lot of problems and issues. The goals we conceded were really poor. It's not like them and hopefully it’s as one off.

“You can't come up to Hartlepool and start the game like that.

“We didn't apply ourselves as we should. Hartlepool looked like they had hunger, desire, fresh legs and a bit of zip about them.

“We were flat today and we got punished. This group of lads are working their socks off.

“They have been doing really well and come a long way. This was a bad day at the office and we have to dust ourselves down.

“You can't have too many days like that, but we know what we need to do and I have every faith in this group in achieving what we want to achieve.”

Coughlan felt the defeat in the North East came down to fatigue with fixtures coming fast and furious as Boston get through a backlog of games.

“Its been a tough period,” he said. “We are not blessed with a big pool of players to make changes, it's the same faces all the time.

“You probably saw the performances and intensity levels town today, but it's been a rewarding period. That was not a great performance, but it was not a regular performance

“We just never looked comfortable and that’s part and parcel of away games.”

The Pilgrims were up against it at Victoria Park after conceding to Gary Madine inside four minutes, but did level through Jacob Hazel's 16th goal of the season - 16 minutes later.

Ex-Pilgrim Mani Dieseruvwe restored Pools' lead shortly afterwards and second half efforts from Reyes Cleary and Jamie Miley sealed the deal for the hosts.