EIFION Williams insists there is no pressure on anyone at Victoria Park when it comes to filling the goalscoring boots of Gordon Watson.
Watson will be out for up to two months after breaking a leg in last week's win over Darlington - but Williams says there is no need to worry.
The Welsh striker has hit four goals in his last three games, including the winner against Lincoln in midweek to keep Pool on top of the table. And before Pool face Bury this afternoon, Williams admitted: "There's no pressure on me, no pressure at all. I am just going to play my own game and keep scoring goals.''
Williams has five goals this season, the same tally achieved by Watson, and admitted: "If I don't score I won't worry and let it get to me because I can create chances for others as well.
"Flash not being here doesn't affect me - I'm a different player to him. Of course we are going to miss him, so like I said there's no pressure on me. As a team we have to make sure we don't miss him.
"It's nice to be wanted here. The gaffer has kept an eye on me for a long time and eventually brought me here. Now I have to repay the faith he has shown in me by scoring goals.
"But we have a good team here, there's a good bunch of lads and we want to stay where we are in the table.
"Personally, I'm very pleased to have got off to a good start and scored a few goals.''
Williams was partnered by Adam Boyd against Lincoln on Tuesday - and both strikers were on target to keep Pool top of Division Three.
The former Welsh B international added: "We've been creating a lot of chances as a team and it's up to me to keep plugging away. I'm sure if we play like we did on Tuesday and Saturday we will have a good season.
"Flash is a good player and we are going to miss him, but like the gaffer said, now it's up to others, myself included, to do the business and make sure we don't miss him too much.
"I thought Boydy came in the other night and did very well. He has good movement and creates spaces and chances for others as well as being able to put them away himself. We've been working hard together on getting a good partnership going and it worked quite well the other night.
Chris Turner spent £30,000 to sign Williams from Torquay last March and admitted: "Adam and Eifion are both good strikers and both good finishers. Scoring on his first start will give Adam a boost and it was pleasing to see.
"Eifion has worked hard from the start of the season and when he came here at the back end of last season he scored a few goals which helped us make the play-offs.
"His strike ratio since coming here has been excellent - not bad for somebody who couldn't score goals apparently!
"He is a goalscorer - he scored goals at Barry Town and scored goals at Torquay before he was left out or stuck on the right wing. His finishes in the last few games have been excellent.''
Pool are unbeaten away from Victoria Park this season, winning two and drawing two.
The only defeat was at home to Macclesfield on August 17 and Williams believes Pool's team spirit is playing its part in establishing a three-point advantage.
"In the first-half against Lincoln things didn't drop for us and it was tough because all they wanted to do was lump the ball forward and look for throw-ins and set pieces,'' he said.
"But when we got on top, I thought we played very well. We knew that if we kept the ball on the floor we would beat them and open them up - in the end we could have scored three or four.
"We came back from one-down against Lincoln and that again showed what sort of character is in the team. It was the same against Darlington, we let them back in the game at one-all and then came back and routed them.
"We play attractive football and it shows how effective it is when we get results like that.
"We've had a long run of away games, where we had long trips three weeks running and we came away from them unbeaten - that shows the good team spirit we have.
"We haven't lost yet away from home so we must be doing something right. You can see how confident we all are by the way we are passing the ball and keeping possession. For our second goal against Lincoln, I don't know how many passes there were but I just had the easy bit to do and smash it in the net.''
* Pool's game at Bournemouth has been put back 24 hours to October 13 for live coverage on Sky Sports.
Read more about Hartlepool here.
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