RITCHIE Humphreys believes Hartlepool United won promotion after doing it the quiet way.

Pools ended their season in second spot after racking up a club record 88 points during the campaign.

But a swift return to League One looked a long way away back in October when Pools floundered with life in the bottom division after relegation.

And, while they fell out of the promotion picture after being tagged among the favourites last August, Humphreys insists it was a pressure-free way of doing it.

"There was a lot of talk about us being favourites at the start of the season but that all stopped after the start we had,'' he admitted.

"Even when we started on our run, it didn't get much attention elsewhere. We were going along unnoticed while everyone was talking about the great seasons Walsall, MK Dons and Swindon were having.

"That suited us just fine because we were quietly building up a tremendous run of our own.

"Back in November we were starting to build the run and then in December there are so many games, you can get a lot of points on the board.

"We hit that period full of confidence and the amount of points we accumulated was phenomenal.''

It was half-way through the season when Pools came into their own as they set off on their 24-game unbeaten streak and Humphreys said: "The Christmas games are always very important and we didn't just manage to get through them undefeated - we managed to win them all.

"It was massive for us and it gave us tremendous momentum to push into the play-off spots and then into the automatic promotion spots.

"That period is so important. It is so busy that if you get some momentum going you can really go forward.''

He added: "It was fantastic to get in the (PFA team) of the year and to get in as a full-back is something I am proud of, because it is still something of a new position to me.

"I am pleased for Nelse and for Monty because they have had great seasons.

"But I must admit I thought there would have been more than three of us in the team.

"That wasn't the case, for whatever reasons I don't know, but we all said that not one of us would have made it without the support of our team-mates.

"I think Dimi didn't get in because they couldn't spell his name and maybe Richard Barker didn't get many votes because of the hard times he has given defenders."