Grimsby Town v Harrogate Town: Survival fight will provide Sulphurites with all the motivation they need

Harrogate Town triumphed 3-2 on home soil last time they went head-to-head with Grimsby Town. Picture: Harrogate Town AFC

That is the view of Sulphurites boss Simon Weaver, who feels his side are in a four-way scrap to beat the drop with Rochdale, Crawley and Hartlepool.

The men from Wetherby Road head to Blundell Park 21st in the table and just three points above the relegation zone having failed to see out recent fixtures against Salford and Crewe despite taking leads into the closing stages of both games.

But Weaver says that his players have to “move on” from those disappointments and produce the kind of positive performance which saw them cruise into a 2-0 lead against the Railwaymen on Saturday afternoon.

Harrogate Town manager Simon Weaver. Picture: Matt Kirkham

“I think that the motivation for Grimsby is to try and keep this proud club in the Football League,” he said.

“We are fighting and scrapping for every point and we’ve got to go again.

“It looks like we are in a fight with three other teams for survival. It’s the team that holds their nerve out of the bottom four.

“Let’s face the truth, let’s confront it and really go for it, like we did on Saturday when, on another day, we could have won.

“It’s constant lessons, but we have got to relish every challenge ahead.”

Grimsby currently sit five places and seven points ahead of Town in the league table, though their own recent form has been rather mixed.

They have beaten League One Burton Albion and Championship Luton in the FA Cup in recent weeks, but lost three of their last five League Two outings.

Paul Hurst’s men did however secure a notable victory at high-flying Northampton on Saturday, fighting back from a goal down to triumph 2-1.

History is however on the side of Town, who have won all of their three previous Football League meetings with the Mariners, Jack Muldoon bagging a brace to secure a 2-1 success on their last visit to North East Lincolnshire.

When the sides met earlier this season, Grimsby goalkeeper Max Crocombe deflected Kayne Ramsay’s 91st-minute effort into his own net to hand the Sulphurites a dramatic 3-2 Boxing Day triumph.

Ramsay is one of three Harrogate players who will miss out this time around, but apart from him and centre-half Kyle Ferguson and midfielder Stephen Dooley, Weaver has a full-strength squad to choose from in midweek.

Kick-off at Blundell Park on Tuesday night is at 7.45pm.