COLIN COOPER is determined for Hartlepool United to forget about the fall-out from deadline day by giving Victoria Park a lift with a victory over undefeated Shrewsbury Town.

The Shrews, with three wins and two draws from their opening League Two fixtures, will arrive in the North-East today confident of piling on the frustrations being felt by Pools fans.

Four defeats from five was followed by the sale of striker Luke James on Monday and Hartlepool were unable to replace the top attacking prospect before the 11pm cut-off point for deals.

And while the opening of the loan market is likely to see interest in Middlesbrough’s Bradley Fewster and Sunderland’s Mikael Mandron step up in the coming weeks, Cooper will have to head in today’s visit of Shrewsbury with his lot.

While the Hartlepool manager is frustrated to have lost James, he sees little point in dwelling on the departure of last season’s leading scorer to Peterborough any longer. It is time, he feels, to move on, starting this afternoon.

“I read stuff, read social media and understand the frustration and I understand where people think the deals are done late and we don't have time to bounce off that, if you like,” he said.

“It is the art of football. It seems as though people want to get business done early and then there is a four or five week lull where things are toing and froing,

“Then, two days before the end of the transfer window, things start flying and that is how it works. We are all doing different things. Because of Financial Fair Play my dealings are different from Louis van Gaal’s.

"But I’m still trying to do stuff that I think will benefit Hartlepool United and that is all I can do. My job is to try to hopefully calm things down. The transfer window is now closed so we crack on with what we have got.

“The loan window will re-open but it is now time to just bed down and crack on. On the back of that we will see if we can put a bit of strength in place but because of the fair play it is difficult. I can just focus on now until December and see what January brings and then I can hopefully re-address the balance.”

The club claim that James handed in two transfer requests to push through his move to Peterborough but Cooper does not see the point in holding grudges and wished him well for the future.

“I am not going to feel let down by Luke James because he is a great kid,” said Cooper. “The conversation I had with him after he had signed for Peterborough was if this is a lesson learnt, then make it a lesson learnt.

“It is talent that defines where you end up. Luke James is a smashing kid, who I hope will go on and play in the Premier League.”

With the James saga over, Hartlepool fans will want a positive reaction from the players this afternoon. Cooper is well aware of that and knows how much of a threat the in-form visitors will pose his team.

“All we can do is try to put a team out on Saturday that can compete and can get our first home win of the season,” said Cooper. “That is our goal as a group. It is as simple as that, after having a good result at Wimbledon and then losing last minute at Cheltenham was a kick where it hurts for the lads.

“The only thing they can do is go at Shrewsbury on Saturday and try to get our season going. We have back-to-back home games and let’s make sure we maximise as much as we can.

“Shrewsbury have had a great start to the season, Micky went in there and turned the club around very quickly. They are very organised, very strong and have some good footballers.

“They have a nice mix so we have to be able to combat what they have got and be creative and get a couple of goals and a win at home.”

Hartlepool: Flinders; Duckworth, Collins, Bates, Austin; Brobbel, Miller, Walker, Franks; Wyke, Harewood.

Shrewsbury: Leutwiler; Grandison, Goldson, Knight-Percival, Demetriou; Clark, Woods, Wesolowski, Gayle; Collins, Vernon.