Harrogate Town hoping for more Matty Daly magic against Carlisle United

The 21-year-old attacking midfielder has netted in each of his four previous outings, his latest strike securing the Sulphurites’ place in the second round of the FA Cup at the expense of derby rivals Bradford City.

That recent form in front of goal, coupled with an improvement in terms of his all-round contribution, has earned Daly high praise from manager Simon Weaver, who believes the Huddersfield loanee is performing as well as any forward in League Two at present.

“I think that Matty Daly has been outstanding in recent matches and I don’t mind telling you that one of our directives has simply been ‘give him the ball’,” the Town chief told the Harrogate Advertiser.

"Obviously we watch a lot of League Two footage, and in my opinion he has been playing as well as anyone I’ve seen at this level over the last few weeks.

"His goals have been really important for us, but we’ve always believed in his goal-scoring ability. There was that fantastic strike on the opening day of the season, but he’s fit as a fiddle now and that’s meant that he’s able to impact games a lot more.

"Playing him in a two up top has allowed him to drop off and play on the half turn, where he looks a really good player, but he was equally as effective as one of two number eights – with Alex Pattison – at Wimbledon.

"He’s just got that ability to find space where there doesn’t look to be any space and he can hurt teams from those positions. We are really pleased by his emergence.”

Carlisle head to North Yorkshire seventh in the table having won seven and drawn six of their first 16 league outings of 2022/23.

They beat Tranmere Rovers 2-1 in the first round of the FA Cup on Saturday having seen off the same opponents away from home in League Two seven days earlier.

Prior to that, Paul Simpson’s men had suffered back-to-back defeats to Leyton Orient and Stockport, but that loss to the Hatters is one of only two to have come on the road this term.

The Cumbrians’ recent record against 21st-placed Town is however fairly dismal. They have failed to beat Harrogate in five attempts, losing four of those encounters, while scoring just one goal in the process.

The Sulphurites won last season’s corresponding fixture 3-0 and also triumphed 1-0 in an EFL Trophy tie at the EnviroVent Stadium, while last November’s clash at Brunton Park saw Weaver’s team take all three points courtesy of a 2-0 success.

Tuesday’s fixture, originally scheduled to take place in September but postponed as a mark of respect following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, kicks-off at 7.45pm.