Harrogate Town v Carlisle United: Sulphurites to adopt 'siege mentality' in bid to end losing run

The Sulphurites made a bright start to 2022/23, taking seven points from the first 12 on offer, but have struggled for both results and goals in recent weeks.

Beaten 2-1 at Sutton United on Saturday following on from an EFL Trophy loss to Hartlepool and League Two reverses against Newport and Barrow, Weaver’s men have back-to-back home fixtures coming up against Carlisle United and Salford City.

Now 19th in the table and just four points above the drop zone, Town are - even at this early stage of the campaign - in serious need of a positive result in order to get them moving in the right direction.

And the Harrogate chief insists that his side must continue to relish their “underdog” tag if they are to succeed in getting one.

"We are looking forward to back-to-back home games,” Weaver said. “We owe Salford one, but we are going to go into them with an attitude that we owe everybody one.

"Sometimes we have got our backs against the wall at this level and so we have to have a siege mentality. We go into every game at this level as underdogs.

"Clubs will always fancy their chances against ‘little old Harrogate Town’ because we have no big Football League history to speak of, however we relish being the underdog.

"It was the same when we were in the National League, but we went to places like Yeovil, York City and Chesterfield and got results against all of them.

"We’ve already had to overcome a lot of barriers just to stay at this level. But, we have to learn from what other clubs with more experienced players do as well as always remembering how we got here.”

With sections of their fan-base having been particularly vocal of late regarding both on and off-field issues, Weaver views Saturday’s clash with Carlisle as an opportunity for Town to deliver a performance which he hopes will go some way to restoring the feel-good factor at Wetherby Road.

"It only takes a few results and people start to question you, question whether the bubble has burst,” he added.

“We can’t listen to any negativity around us. There will be no negativity in the changing room, but we’ve got to get the fans on our side.

"Our rise has been two leagues, and we don’t want to stop the journey there. But, it’s very difficult competing with the bigger clubs at this level, though we want to keep going as long as we’ve got the community behind us.

"I think our fans have a good understanding of where we are and their support means a lot to us.

"It’s important that we show them that we care and that we provide them with exciting football and that they leave on Saturday knowing that, whatever happens, every single one of our players wore their Harrogate Town shirt with pride.”

Carlisle travel to Harrogate 12th in the table having won two and drawn three of their opening six matches.

They recovered from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 at home to Rochdale last time out having beaten Gillingham 1-0 in their previous league outing.

Their own recent form may not be as hot, but history is at least on Town’s side heading into Saturday’s fixture.

The Sulphurites are unbeaten in five competitive meetings with the Cumbrians, and have won four of those matches.

Last season, Town triumphed 2-0 away and 3-0 at home in League Two and also won an EFL Trophy tie between the sides 1-0 at Wetherby Road.