Carlisle United v Harrogate Town: Sulphurites won't underestimate basement boys, insists Simon Weaver
The Sulphurites are unbeaten in six League Two meetings with Saturday's opponents, winning four of those matches, and have lost just once in nine fixtures between the sides in all competitions since their promotion to the Football League in 2020.
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Hide AdThey head into the game off the back of a gritty 1-0 home success over Newport County and having kept back-to-back clean-sheets in the league for the first time this term.
Carlisle, by contrast, suffered a 4-0 drubbing at AFC Wimbledon last time out and have lost seven of their previous nine league and cup matches, a run of form which has seen them drop to the foot of the table.
Relegated from League One at the end of last season, United have managed to come out on top in just two of their opening 11 League Two fixtures.
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Hide AdPaul Simpson was sacked as manager in early September, with new boss Mike Williamson unable to spark much of a resurgence since he was lured away from MK Dons, despite overseeing a victory against Swindon in his first game in charge.
Weaver, however, isn’t anticipating anything other than a tough test.
“I think it will be a difficult challenge,” he said. “Carlisle are probably surprising everyone by being at the bottom of the table and we expect them to be well up for it.
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Hide Ad"I like Mike, he’s had success at Gateshead and then at MK Dons and obviously he will be keen to get it going at Carlisle too.
"He’s had his success by playing really good football and we don’t expect anything different. We know that Carlisle have got a good squad to choose from and some really powerful players. They’ve definitely got the squad to be up there in the top three, if not the play-offs.
"He’ll probably think it’s a ‘must-win’ against us, to turn it around and we don’t want to be the team that gift wraps them a win and a turnaround in fortunes.”
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Hide AdThe most recent showdown between Harrogate and Carlisle did see the Cumbrians end their eight-match winless run in fixtures between the clubs, Simpson's men triumphing 2-0 at Brunton Park in an EFL Trophy tie in November of last year.
Earlier in 2023/24, United visited Wetherby Road in the first round of the League Cup, with Sam Folarin's strike from outside the box sufficient to earn Town a 1-0 victory.
The Sulphurites' previous league visit to Carlisle saw them triumph 1-0 in the most fortunate of circumstances as a fairly dire affair was settled by Paul Huntington's ridiculous own goal.
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Hide AdPrior to that, Harrogate won 2-0 at Brunton Park courtesy of efforts from George Thomson and Alex Pattison, having drawn 1-1 up in Cumbria in 2020/21.
Long-term casualties George Thomson (achilles) and Liam Gibson (hamstring) will miss out for Town at Carlisle due to injury, with boss Weaver’s only other concern being Stephen Dooley, who reported a tight hamstring during the week.
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