Colchester United's Tom Eastman was the 'best player on the pitch' during Harrogate Town's goalless draw with Gillingham FC

The 31-year-old has made a big impression following his arrival on loan from Colchester United during the January transfer window, playing the full 90 minutes in each of the nine fixtures the Sulphurites have played since he joined the club.

And he produced another assured display at the heart of Town back-line as they restricted fellow strugglers Gillingham to very few genuine scoring opportunities during Saturday’s stalemate.

One crucial late block from an Alex MacDonald strike was described by his manager as “instrumental” in the hosts finishing up with a share of the spoils, though Weaver felt that Eastman was excellent throughout.

“For me, there was no better player on the pitch than Tom Eastman today,” the Harrogate boss said.

“He made a massive block towards the end of the game and was instrumental in us getting a clean-sheet.

“He seemed at ease with his touch, he recognised when he could bring it down and play and when to fight a war.

“That block, the space he made up to read the danger and anticipate and block it was outstanding.

“He did many good things.”

Eastman and his defensive colleagues kept things tight enough to register a second clean-sheet in four matches, with Weaver stating that he suffered very few “heart-in-mouth moments.”

And he went on to say that he is confident that the fourth-leakiest back-line in the division is improving with each game.

“The communication is good. It’s getting there isn’t it. Last week [at Swindon], we conceded three and they’ll have been hurting - I certainly was,” the Town boss continued.

"The distances [between them] weren’t great, but, through an extra couple of games and showing them, they know that the first man is going to get the attacker’s head down and then the next man will cover, and then when you’ve got support you balance up like in any coaching manual.

"That’s why, after the last two games, I’m thinking that they trust each other that little bit more and you don’t have a horrible halfway house where you worry too much and you don’t end up making up the yards and you end up doing nothing.

“On Saturday, we were right out there, right in people’s faces and it was good.

“Those clean-sheets build up confidence. We just keep going and building on the confidence that the clean-sheets give us.”

Saturday’s result means that Town have now won just one of their last 13 matches, but that draw, combined with second-from-bottom Crawley’s defeat to Northampton, sees the Sulphurites pull six points clear of the League Two relegation zone.