George Thomson aiming to contribute more 'sweet' strikes in a bid to keep Harrogate Town challenging at the top end of League Two

The 29-year-old midfielder netted for the third time this season on Tuesday evening, drilling a clinical low finish into the bottom corner just seconds before half-time to set the Sulphurites on their way to a 2-0 victory at Brunton Park.

And with three more difficult-looking away fixtures on the horizon, Thompson is aiming to keep delivering more of the same.

“It was a sweet strike. I knew when it left my foot, you just get a feeling when there’s that good connection and I could see it heading toward the bottom corner,” he told the Harrogate Advertiser.

“I’ve always been coached that when you pick up the ball in that kind of a shooting position that you always have to go across the goalkeeper, and so that’s what I tried to do.

“Those type of positions are definitely ones that I want to be getting myself in. I need to get into them more often to give myself more opportunities to score and assist goals.

“That’s what I am always looking to do, to be contributing to the team.”

Tuesday saw Thomson return to Simon Weaver’s starting line-up having been used from the substitutes’ bench in Town’s two previous outings.

And, although he says that, in an ideal world, he would rather start every game, the former FC United of Manchester man admits that he felt refreshed after a brief rest.

“The gaffer changed things up a bit after the Wrexham game, Simon [Power] came in and did well, scoring a couple of free-kicks,” he added.

“That’s what you’ve got a squad for, so you can use it when you need to and I probably did benefit from a little break. You see teams rotating their players at the top level and I do feel a bit fresher.

“I’d like to play every game, and obviously I did last season and it’s a lot of football. The gaffer explained his decision and said he wanted me to have the chance to take a breather and re-charge the batteries.

“As a player, it’s then up to you to take your chance to get back in the team when it comes along and hopefully I’ve done that at Carlisle.”

Tuesday’s success lifted Harrogate up one place to sixth position ahead of this weekend’s trip to Swindon Town and Thomson doesn’t see any reason why he and his team-mates cannot continue to challenge at the top end of the table.

“We’re three points off second currently and I think that we deserve to be right up there,” he continued.

“I certainly think we can continue to challenge as well. That’s the aim. We want to be in the mix heading into the New Year, so we just need to keep grinding out results.

"Swindon on Saturday will be a really tough one. They're flying at the moment aren't they. I've seen the stats that show that they've averaged the highest percentage of possession in the league so far.

"They'll have a big crowd behind them as well, but they are all tough games in this division. Look at how hard it was at Carlisle on Tuesday and they're currently second-from-bottom.

"The gaffer and Thirs [Paul Thirlwell] will come up with a game-plan and we'll go there confident after winning our last two away from home and be looking to come away with another positive result."

Town's clash with third-placed Swindon kicks off at the County Ground at 3pm on Saturday.