FOCUSED boss Danny Wilson believes Hartlepool United's ability to rough it with the League Two relegation boys proves they are worthy occupants of top spot in the division.

Pools' 3-2 victory over Macclesfield Town on Tuesday night lifted Wilson's side three points clear of second-placed Walsall and, more pertinently, they now have a six-point gap back to the play-off zone.

The Victoria Park outfit's rise to the pinnacle of English football's bottom tier has arrived after a 17-match unbeaten run in the league.

But, despite the impressive record since last losing to Barnet on November 4, Wilson feels it was the recent successes over relegation fodder that has convinced him his squad are capable of staying at the top.

The marginal victory over fourth-from-bottom Macclesfield followed on from last Saturday's 1-0 win at the club sitting 94th in all four divisions, Torquay United.

This weekend sees Hartlepool travel to Boston United, sitting two places above the Seagulls, and Wilson wants a repeat of the character shown against other struggling opponents.

"We are showing great self-belief at this moment," said Wilson, who was the only manager in the top five to taste a victory in midweek.

"The lads are digging in to get great results and we can no longer worry about the rest of the teams around us. The last two games, despite the position of the teams, were not easy and we have another coming up.

"My players have to be ready to go toe-to-toe with them, just as they have been. If you think sides like Macclesfiled are going to let you tickle their bellies and lie down then you are mistaken. We have to be ready for a battle and we have been.

"The last two games we have played have been as hard, if not harder, than the games against top teams.

"But, now that we are where we are, we don't have to look anywhere else but forward. We have nobody else to catch. The results have gone our way and our form is the best around.

"If we can come away with maximum points from these three games then we will have done very well."

Wilson singled out goalkeeper Dimi Konstantopoulos after Tuesday's triumph. The Greek went from hero to villain in the closing stages. First he was to blame for a dropping a cross in the build up to Macclesfield's equaliser, then, somehow, he turned a close-range power header from striker John Murphy up and over the bar.

That allowed Pools to go down to the other end and grab a winner with just two minutes remaining.

Wilson said: "Dimi dropped the cross but he made amends by making that point-blank save, which he had no right to save. He won us the game really."