KEVIN Betsy last night heaped praise on his new team-mates after getting his Hartlepool United career off to a scoring start.

Betsy signed a loan deal from Barnsley two weeks ago, and scored his first goal on his first start for Pool in last Monday's win at Huddersfield.

He will keep his place in the starting line-up when Pool face Blackpool at Victoria Park this afternoon, looking to heap more misery on the side at the foot of the table with three losses from three games this season.

Betsy has taken a shine to life in Hartlepool and Pool are keen on making his loan move a permanent one, after falling out of the first-team picture at Barnsley.

And Betsy, top scorer at Oakwell last season, admitted: "It was great to get my first goal for the club in my first start.

"I was delighted with it, I've not played any pre-season at Barnsley and I needed the 90 minutes the other night.

"Coming through the last 15 minutes I was feeling it a little bit, but thanks to the manager for leaving me on. It will give me a big boost.

"The conditions were tough and, with no pre-season games under my belt, I felt it.

"I think the performances the other night was something like the real Hartlepool. I know there is a fantastic team here and when we got the goals, the lads at the back kept things tight at the back.

"Even before we scored, we looked solid. Boyd has done tremendously well to set the two goals up. I started out wide, but scored just after being moved up through the middle.''

Betsy, who yesterday likened team-mate Adam Boyd to Dennis Bergkamp for the unselfish way he creates space for others admitted: "Boydy is so clever to play with, he can drop deep and create openings for others as well as scoring goals himself.

"Everything is dropping nicely into place for me now. I've been here a few weeks and can honestly say they are the best bunch of lads I've ever worked with.

"I've been at a few clubs, but I've never seen anything like the sprit here.

"That helps you on the pitch as well and I think it showed on Monday night. It was nice to score in front of the Sky cameras and show people what I can do.

"I don't suppose you get much of a chance to do it in this division, so it was nice to make the most of the opportunity.''

Monday's win was Pool's second of the season and Betsy believes, with a bit of good fortune, they could have been sitting even prettier.

He said: "We didn't deserve to lose at Tranmere the week before, we should have been going home with at least a point, but these things even themselves out over a season.

"We showed a lot of character to go to Huddersfield and win. They are a strong side, very difficult to beat and they don't lose many games at home.''

Besty first caught Neale Cooper's eye when he scored twice at Victoria Park on Boxing Day for Barnsley. He was man-of-the-match that day in the Tykes' victory and Cooper's admiration for the player hasn't waned.

He said: "Kevin's workrate the other night was tremendous. On one occasion in the first-half he tracked back something like 40-odd years to help out Jack (Ross).

"That's the sort of effort and workrate we have in this team - honesty and graft are part of the characteristics.

"He played out wide and was strong and then was a danger up front as well. The referee stopped him from having another good scoring chance when he stopped play and it was a shocking decision.

"Eifion did well through the middle with Boydy. I felt at times that Eifion's pace would hurt Huddersfield. He has been put on the right a couple of times and he has done alright, but he can do a good job through the middle.

"It's nice to have those options. We have players who can do jobs in other positions - Kevin can play up front of out wide, Eifion can do the same and they are both a handful in either role."

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