CHRIS Turner is calling for an improvement in concentration to lift Hartlepool United from the foot of Division Three.

Pool lost 2-1 at Rushden on Friday night and 24 hours later were dumped to the foot of the table as both Carlisle and Exeter won.

Pool's last stint in 24th place was after losing to Brentford on April 3, 1999.

With just nine points on the board this season, Pool's hopes of reaching the play-offs look a long way off and Turner said: "We beat Carlisle but I never said we had turned the corner. One win doesn't mean that, you need a sequence of results to get you there.

"Rushden was a game when we should have got a point at least. We won nine games away from home last year and there is still time to get that sort of record.

"The players know things aren't right. We had an open discussion in the dressing room on Friday between everybody.

"They're fed up with losing games we should have won. We're not that far away from getting it right but we've got to stop giving silly goals away. If we'd lost 4-0 then we would have said to ourselves that we needed to change a lot - but it's individual errors that are costing us the goals.

"No-one seems to give us those kind of goals '' The Pool boss added: "We are playing good football, but conceding sloppy goals. Individual errors are costing us. We were on the attack then gave away a free-kick.

"Thirty seconds later the ball was in our net. We are switching off at the back when we are attacking and that means when the ball comes in, their attackers are getting there before us.

"That was the case for Rushden's second goal and it cost us.

"We know we can do it - that's what makes it so frustrating for us.'' Gil Prescott has relinquished his position as manager of Macclesfield to concentrate on his role as director of football at the club after leading them to just two wins this season.

Macclesfield have no assistant manager so coaches Kevin Keene, Norman Bernard and John Askey will take control of training.

Wrexham have appointed Denis Smith as their new manager. He replaces Brian Flynn, who left the club two weeks ago after a 12-year reign.