Harrogate Town boss Simon Weaver looking forward to the opportunity to strengthen during January transfer window

The Harrogate Town boss has conceded that recruiting mid-season is neither easy nor ideal, however he has stressed that “standing still” is not an option.

Following a fast start to the campaign, the Sulphurites have begun to slip down the League Two standings in recent weeks.

Their leaky back-line and an inability to keep clean-sheets are undoubtedly the main contributing factors to that slide out of the promotion places, with Town’s defensive record now the worst of all the club’s currently in the top half of the table.

Thus, Weaver is quite understandably considering the possibility of bringing in reinforcements.

“We’re just not defending properly and it has become a recurring problem. I’m glad that we’re heading into January when the window opens,” he said.

“If we could defend our box better, in all honesty, looking at the goals we have conceded this year, we could be top three.

“It’s frustrating, it’s disappointing, but I can do very little about it because we haven’t got the squad depth to even threaten change at the minute – but, it’s coming up to January.

“It’s difficult in January, however we are working really hard [on targets] because we need to be stronger. What we can’t do is stand still and ask the team to bang three or four in because we’re not doing anything about it at the other end. So, that’s the challenge for the defenders.

“We are still a work in progress. We will evolve the team, we have to in order to improve. We’ve improved one area, two areas, we need to improve different areas as well to keep on that upward trajectory. In the mean-time, people either improve fast enough with the rest of the team or we have to have a different look about us in a couple of areas.”

While Town have struggled in and around their own box, they have had no such issues at the opposite end of the field, an area in which Weaver believes they successfully managed to evolve during the summer.

“I think we have evolved it attacking-wise, I think that is obvious,” he added.

“The additions of Patto [Alex Pattison], Luke [Armstrong], Jack Diamond, Pagey [Luke Page] marauding from left-back, we are better.

“Rory [McArdle] evolved us, but you take him out of it and, as a football club, if you don’t move on at some point, if you don’t progress, it is me that gets it in the neck – and quite rightly so.

“We know where the problem is. I’ve spoken to the defenders. They’re disappointed. I said to Warren [Burell] after the Northampton game ‘what have you got to say? What do you want to do?’. He said ‘you’re right, we’ve not been good enough’. They know, they are honest lads.”

Acknowledging the problem is one thing, doing something about it is another – and hoping that the transfer window will solve all of Town’s issues at the back is not the route that Weaver plans to go down.

He insists that he and assistant boss Paul Thirlwell are doing everything that they can behind the scenes and on the training ground to try and tighten things up, but has questioned whether all of the current members of his squad possess the consistency required to sustain a challenge at the top end of League Two.

“We’re trying to improve their thought process when they’re defending a wide free-kick or a corner,” he continued. “It’s repetition, we’re going on and on and on, looking at clips and clips and more clips. It takes hours, but this is my job and it’s the job of our analyst and Thirs when he is coaching to keep on improving the lads.

“We pride ourselves on improving players and some of them won’t go all the way - and I’m not just talking about defenders.

“Some have come from National League North to the National League and then, at times, to being at the top end of League Two. But, we need consistency to be nailed on top-three – and we will be aiming for that.”