Planet Swans ArchivesPratley scored the first and third goal of the Swans 12th away success of the season and knows that by this time next week it is possible that promotion could have been secured if all results go their way this week. And that is something that Pratley is mindful of as he urged his team to go forward and get promotion as soon as possible meaning a potential promotion party of more than a month.
Saturday's double capped a strange week for Pratley – he was hauled off at half time on Monday night against Bristol Rovers and arguably only kept his place in the absence of Ferrie Bodde with an injury but he made the most of it with two good finished to cap a great comeback after the Swans went a goal behind just 26 seconds into the game.
We've got 82 points now and I think we're nearly there," the midfielder said. But we want to enjoy the end of the season and we want clinch promotion as quickly as we can.
"We have worked hard to get this far and we want to enjoy what's left of the season. We know that if we win three of our six games we're guaranteed to go up and we're all buzzing about that.
"I'm sure the whole of Swansea is buzzing about what we can achieve. If we'd slipped up at Hartlepool after Doncaster had beaten Forest, people would have been going on about the gap closing.
"But we got a big win and Carlisle dropped points so we've extended our lead at the top. I know Carlisle have got a game in hand, but it's looking good for us.
"It's in our hands so we just have to focus on getting our results right.
"Hartlepool's a tough place to go to and the conditions were difficult so we're delighted," Pratley added.
"The goal we conceded was soft, but we knew one would get us back into it and then we got the penalty just before half-time.
"I thought it was a good challenge to be honest, but we've had decisions go against us this year so we'll take that.
"They were raining balls into our box in the second half with the wind behind them, but once we'd got the third we could have gone on and scored a few more."
