Harrogate Town V Northampton Town: Sulphurites cannot afford Swindon Town 'hangover'

Harrogate Town went down 3-0 on the road at Swindon Town on Saturday. Pictures: Matt Kirkham

The struggling Sulphurites went down 3-0 in Wiltshire and things don’t get any easier in midweek with League Two’s fourth-placed side the visitors to Wetherby Road.

Having won just one of their previous 11 matches - a run of form which has left them just four points clear of the relegation zone - Town are in desperate need of a positive result, but know they will have their work cut out against the Cobblers.

And if they are to have any chance of recording a first home victory in six attempts, then Weaver has stressed that his team must put the disappointment of what happened against the Robins last time out firmly behind them.

Harrogate Town manager Simon Weaver has challenged his players to 'stay in the moment'.

"Northampton are a team who are right up there. They are strong, in contention for promotion and so we have got to try and top their rhythm and dig in like we have done recently,” the Harrogate chief said.

"On Saturday, defensively we had a few bad moments and it cost us. But, we have to dust ourselves down.

"There cannot be any hangover. No-one came in in a bad mood on Monday morning. We were flat on Sunday but you have got to get over it because there are three points at stake and they are there for us if we apply ourselves well.”

With Town hovering precariously above the bottom two there is no doubt that they are very much embroiled in a relegation scrap.

And while Weaver accepts that this is the case, he doesn’t want his charges to lose focus when it comes to the immediate task at hand by worrying too much about the bigger picture.

"We have to challenge the lads to stay in the moment and concentrate on the first 45 minutes,” he added.

"We need to forget about the outcome at the end of the season because that is far down the road. This is about the now.

"Collectively, we’ve all got to come to the party on Tuesday night.”

Goalkeeper Pete Jameson (thumb), defenders Kayne Ramsay (face) and Kyle Ferguson (knee) and midfielder Stephen Dooley (groin and back) remain sidelined and will not feature against Northampton.

Sam Folarin missed Saturday’s loss at Swindon due to a back spasm and is a doubt once again for Tuesday’s fixture.

The Cobblers arrive in North Yorkshire having ended a run of four matches without a win at the weekend, beating Colchester United 1-0 away from home.

They have spent the majority of the 2022/23 season occupying an automatic promotion spot, however their form has dropped off since they beat top-of-the-table Leyton Orient on January 2.

Last season, they triumphed 2-1 at Wetherby Road with Jack Diamond netting Harrogate’s goal.

Kick-off at the EnviroVent Stadium is at 7.45pm.