Alexander hails his defence

Fleetwood boss Graham Alexander admitted his side rode their luck a little in winning 1-0 at Hartlepool.

Victory came for the Cod Army when Antoni Sarcevic's shot from long distance was spilled by goalkeeper Scott Flinders and Jeff Hughes bundled in from close range after 15 minutes. Home striker Steve Howard had an early header cleared off the line before another header late on was acrobatically tipped away by Scott Davies. Pools peppered the Fleetwood goal from distance but the visitors stood up to the challenge and saw the game out, and Alexander saluted his defenders for a job well done. "We worked hard for it, a very tough game," reflected Alexander. "We defended more than I would have liked to and to come off with a win and clean sheet is very pleasing. "Last week we didn't defend well enough for a period, but we did for the entire game here. "The goal was against the run of play, but that's football. We soaked up pressure and know we have a threat from midfield and that's how it came about - Jeff was there to finish it off. "We gave away too many opportunities to Hartlepool and we had the players to stop them." Alexander added: "There comes a certain point in the game when you want to change it, but it wasn't about tactics or systems. You had to stand up and be counted and it comes down to heading it and getting in the way of the ball when you have to."