Harrogate Town boss praises George Thomson following 'massive' impact on return to action

Having set up a late winner at FC Halifax Town in midweek on what was his first start of 2019/10, the former FC United of Manchester attacker opened the scoring in Saturday's 2-0 home success over Sutton United.

The men from Wetherby Road began the week 18th in the National League standings, but back-to-back victories have seen them climb to 11th, leaving them within touching distance of a play-off berth.

"He's been massive for us in these two games and it can't be a coincidence," Weaver said of Town's upturn in fortunes since Thomson's return to the starting line-up.

"Full credit to him for really training hard and banging on the door and making it impossible for me to leave him out.

"We love George to bits, we know he's a talented lad and the way we're setting up now suits him down to the ground, he can come right in off the line.

"He's so neat and tidy on the ball, he's been a goal-threat as we've seen, and his set-piece delivery adds a lot to the team.

"The question's got to be asked, why didn't I play him before?"

Town have been wasteful in front of goal at times this term and have passed up a number of one-one-one opportunities in previous matches.

And despite his lack of minutes, Thomson showed his team-mates exactly how it's done when he latched onto Alex Bradley's through-ball and calmly slotted past Sutton keeper Jamie Butler in the first half of Saturday's National League clash at the CNG Stadium.

"It was a really cool finish and he had a lot more time to think about it than everyone else has had, so credit to him," Weaver added.

"Hopefully he's alright because he's tweaked his hip flexor there and he's a real big character for us in this team."