Harrogate Railway boss Mick O'Connell demands a reaction from 'complacent' players

The Starbeck club were beaten 4-2 on the road at Retford last time out, leaving their manager “fuming” with what he deemed an unacceptable display.

That defeat was just their second in nine NCEL Division One outings, though it was enough to drop them down one place to sixth in the table

“I am 100 per cent demanding a reaction, we watched the video back and the lads know that last week wasn’t good enough. They understand that we can’t be flaky like Harrogate Railway sides of old,” O’Connell said.

“We have to be consistent. We have to better out of possession than we were against Retford. We looked okay with the ball to be fair but there wasn’t enough energy when we didn’t have it.

“I can accept lads making mistakes, but I’ll never accept them playing at 70 per cent or not bringing energy. The ethos of this club now is based around working hard. If you don’t work hard enough in football you cannot expect to get results.

"I think there was a bit of complacency as well. We'd won 7-1 the week before and I think some of the lads got complacent because of that and you just cannot afford to let that creep in."

Parkgate head to Station View on December 4 10th in the table, and O'Connell is expecting another tough test.

"I think they're a side who are improving, they are starting to pick up points," he added.

"They're a decent side, they are well-coached, they stay compact and they do not give much away.

"We know that we are going to have to work very hard to break them down, and that we will need to take our chances.

"Last weekend we created 12 opportunities, but only scored two goals and they were both penalties. Retford had six chances and put four in the back of the net. We need to show that kind of ruthlessness on Saturday."