Does ex-Shrewsbury Town striker Sam Jones still have a future at Harrogate Town?

Sam Jones in pre-season action for Harrogate Town. Picture: Matt KirkhamSam Jones in pre-season action for Harrogate Town. Picture: Matt Kirkham
Sam Jones in pre-season action for Harrogate Town. Picture: Matt Kirkham | other
Sam Jones hasn’t been seen in a Harrogate Town shirt since he scored in a 1-1 draw at Maidenhead United back on September 21.

The former Shrewsbury and Grimsby Town attacker has only been included in a match-day squad twice since then, and is yet to even manage that since his return from a brief loan spell at Solihull Moors in early January.

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And with Harrogate boss Simon Weaver confirming last week that he is on the look-out for another striker, it didn’t appear that Jones was on the verge of an imminent return to action.

The 28-year-old is however fit, available for selection, and has been training with the rest of his team-mates as normal.

And, as far as Weaver is concerned, while Jones might find himself some way down the pecking order at present, that doesn’t mean that he won’t yet have a part to play between now and the end of the season.

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“He’s fit and, to be fair, he has trained well this week,” the Town manager said after Saturday’s 2-0 FA Trophy win over Eastleigh, a match that Jones was cup-tied for.

“There are just others ahead of him in the pecking order and the problem for a player is it’s just one man’s opinion.

“Someone else might think completely different to me if they had seen him in training this week.

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“I’m sure that a lot of people would fancy him because he’s got good ability and he’s training well, but I’ve gone with others.

“If it wasn’t him sat in the stand, it would be someone else. It’s just my preference at the minute.”

Jones has scored one goal and made six appearances for Town since joining from Shrewsbury in the summer. Four of those outings were from the substitutes’ bench.

He played five times for Solihull during his loan spell there, finding the back of the net once, in an FA Trophy clash with Darlington.