Harrogate Town v Carlisle United: Sulphurites will make changes for Carabao Cup clash

Harrogate Town centre-half Rod McDonald will not be involved against former club Carlisle United on Tuesday evening. Pictures: Matt Kirkham

The Sulphurites kicked-off their 2023/24 League Two campaign with a fine 1-0 away win at Doncaster Rovers at the weekend and served up an impressive display in the process.

Weaver praised all of those involved on Saturday for their performances, but says he intends to freshen things up against the Cumbrians.

Summer signing Rod McDonald will definitely not be involved having been forced from the field in the second period following a clash of heads at the EcoPower Stadium, but otherwise the Town boss has a fairly healthy squad to select from, and insists he will still be fielding a strong side.

Sulphurites boss Simon Weaver says he would love an extended run in a cup competition.

"Rod McDonald will be ruled out for sure,” he said. “He is okay, but didn’t get home until the early hours on Sunday morning because he had to be transferred to Rotherham to see a facial specialist.

"He had internal stitches just above his eyelid, which was quite complicated, but he is a lion-heart, he said that he is in no pain and will be good to go very soon, which is great.

"Other than that, there are no new injuries, but we want high energy, so the squad will be rotated a little bit to adjust to maybe a lack of energy in one or two and just looking after them.

"I was pleased with the look of the starting XI in training when we went through some shape and we’ll have a very strong squad because it is important to us to do well in this competition.

"We could be one game away from pulling a really big team out of the bag, which could make a real difference to our revenue and there’s also nothing like a good cup run to get the excitement flowing locally with the supporters.”

Along with centre-half McDonald, long-term midfield casualty Stephen Dooley is also unavailable for selection, while it remains to be seen whether striker Luke Armstrong will play any part.

Last season’s 16-goal top-scorer made himself unavailable for selection for Saturday’s game at Doncaster, stating that he wasn’t in the right frame of mind to play having told Weaver that he wants to leave the club following a number of transfer bids for his services.

And although it appears likely that the former Middlesbrough hitman will depart Wetherby Road, the Harrogate chief remains hopeful that Armstrong could yet sign a new three-year deal which remains “on the table”.

Tuesday’s fixture gets underway at Wetherby Road at 7.45pm.