CHRISTMAS arrived 48 hours early at Victoria Park on Saturday - and now boss Chris Turner has called on his buoyant players to keep their run going at Carlisle this afternoon.

Pool go to Cumbria on the back of a thumping 6-1 win over Barnet - their biggest League win since a 6-2 triumph over Crewe at Victoria Park in November 1980.

The triumph lifted Pool into ninth spot, just three away from the play-off zone, and means Pool have taken nine points from their last three games before taking on Ian Atkins' side who have earned just one win in 17 League outings.

Craig Midgley's first hat-trick in professional football and lavish strikes from Paul Stephenson, Mark Tinkler and Kevin Henderson sunk Tony Cottee's side.

Player-manager Cottee cut a forlorn figure on the bench after deciding against playing with today's game with Brighton in mind.

Pool go to Brunton Park before making the trip to leaders Chesterfield on Saturday but Turner warned: "We have two tough away games coming up. If we can win one of them, then we come back here to face Lincoln and it puts us in a good position.

"We had Carlisle watched at Mansfield on Friday and we know it won't be easy.''

Turner will field an unchanged side for the fourth game in a row this afternoon, with Midgley in the form of his life after netting five times in as many games.

The diminutive front-man - who stands 5ft 7in - scored a hat-trick of headers on Saturday and Turner admitted: "I've said many a time about Midge - he's worked tremendously hard and has the right attitude for any player not in the team.

"I read his comments that he felt his chance was slipping, but he felt that rather than chuck the towel in, he thought he would work hard and see where it got him.

"He's done it and been tremendous and he's looking a super striker. He's been a revelation, a bit like Paul Stephenson was last season - he's come back from the dead and Midgley's doing the same.

"Three headers, and good headers at that. Clarkie's ball in for the third goal was absolutely top class.

"But some of our goals were of Premier League standard, especially the fifth and sixth. I think that the boys deserved it after a lot of people wrote them off after what happened at Mansfield and Cardiff.

"To be fair, I thought Barnet played well at times and they had a few chances. I said to them at half-time - remember those games in the second half and let's put it to bed about those games where we've chucked points away - and they did it.

"Were we flattered by the six goals? By the quality of the six goals we definitely weren't, but I think in general play, at times, Barnet played well and created one or two half chances themselves.''

And Turner added: "There's not a lot else you can say when you score six goals, is there? It's the match I've been waiting for - there has been many a game here over the last 12 months where we could have scored six - against Barnet last season we could have scored six.

"Macclesfield this season when we were two-nil up we should have scored three, four and five, so it's been coming."

Ironically, Turner was involved the last time Pool bagged six on home soil.

That was back in 1988 and he was on the receiving end in the opposition goal as Pool beat Manchester United 6-0 in a pre-season friendly.

Stephenson set the Christmas ball rolling on Saturday when he charged at the Barnet defence from deep, eluded a clutch of challenges and rolled the ball home.

Then Midgley took centre stage with his triple blast. First he headed home Stephenson's cross on nine minutes and then Ian Clark's measured cross was steered back across Bishop Auckland-born keeper Danny Naisbett into the far corner.

To complete his haul, he got a touch to Clark's curling set piece in a packed penalty area.

Barnet had the temerity to blame the Victoria Park surface for the result, but given some of the football Pool played, it could have been even more on a perfect surface.

But where is there a perfect surface in December?

Henderson's tenth of the season was the pick of the bunch, following a flowing move from the edge of the Pool penalty area, and Tinkler slotted in his first goal for Pool after another feast of passing.

As Pool led 5-0, Stephenson was felled by an ugly challenge from Barnet's Warren Goodhind, who escaped punishment after jumping into the Pool midfielder with his elbow. Both the referee and his assistant missed the incident and Turner fumed: "He didn't see it, but he definitely led with his elbow and hit him.