Harrogate Railway well placed to go on and enjoy a successful campaign, insists Fraser Lancaster

The Starbeck outfit made an extremely positive start to 2023/24, their season first under the direction of Lancaster and fellow first-team manager Rob Youhill, winning four of their opening five fixtures.

Their form has levelled out somewhat since the early weeks of the campaign and they now find themselves in 10th position, five points shy of the top-five.

But, with a game in hand on fifth-placed Shirebrook Town and fresh off the back of a comprehensive victory over Wombwell Town which saw them knock their high-flying visitors off the top of the table, followed by a gritty midweek success at Swallownest, the Rail boss is confident that his young side can still get themselves back into the promotion mix.

"To be 10th after 18 matches isn't a bad position to be in, particularly when you consider that we have a few games in hand teams in and around us in the table," Lancaster said.

"We're not too far away from the play-off places and there's still a long way to go this season.

"It's about getting on a bit of a run of results again and building a bit of momentum. We know that we have the quality in our team to do that, we have devastating pace going forwards and the ability to cause any team in our division problems.

"You just have to look at our last home match, beating the team that was top of the league 3-0. The lads were absolutely buzzing with that result, it gives us a lot of confidence and means that you just can't wait for the next game.

"So we'll just keep trying to prepare right, keep looking at tweaks we can make here and there to try and give ourselves the best possible chance in each game, and if we can string a couple more results together then we'll be able to move up the table quite quickly."

Railway have strengthened their ranks in recent weeks by persuading vastly-experienced centre-half Mike Morris and versatile attacker Joe Navier to return to Station View from Tadcaster Albion and Knaresborough Town respectively.

And Lancaster feels that both additions will make a big difference.

"Mozzer is a very good character to have in your dressing room and in and around the club,” he added.

“Up until he came back, I think that Lewis Pye was our oldest player at 27, but with Mozzer being in his mid-thirties, his experience and know-how really helps.

"Just his presence helps take the pressure off the lads, because they know he’s been there and done it and that he just wants to help get the best out of them.

"And Joe Navier is a player who has a lot of quality and is really versatile, he can play anywhere across the front three, so we were really pleased to be able to bring him back.”

Railway, whose 1-0 win at Swallownest on Tuesday came courtesy of Luca Bolino’s 57th-minute penalty, return to action this Saturday when they visit seventh-placed Nostell Miners Welfare (3pm).