Harrogate Town v Port Vale: Selection headaches a good thing for Simon Weaver

Injuries have left the Sulphurites with very little room for manoeuvre in terms of squad rotation in recent months, though the return to fitness of defensive duo Ryan Fallowfield and Lewis Richards means they now have more options available.

As a result, midfielders Lloyd Kerry and Josh Austerfield did not even make Weaver's bench for Saturday's goalless draw at Barrow, and the Harrogate boss admits that the fact he will be faced with another selection headache in midweek is a positive thing.

"We haven't had the luxury of being able to rest players until Saturday when we had two players missing out on the squad who were fit. We've always been short up until then," he said.

"It's been good the last few days, we've been training and there's plenty of bodies out there. We've not been able to rotate throughout the winter period and it's made it difficult really.

"It's been hard to plan in advance this season and last, and that is something that we have learned from and we will take into next season because it would be nice to be in a position, like we were on Saturday and we are for this game, where we can go 'maybe we will freshen this player up for that opponent'.

"I think we would benefit as a side from that because you can't just keep playing the same players week in, week out and expect the same kind of top performances.

"One thing is for sure, when you've got bodies in the building who are fit, it drives up the performance levels in training and competition for places. That's the main motivating factor when the players know that they've got to keep on their game."

Vale will arrive at 13th-placed Harrogate ninth in the League Two standings and unbeaten in eight matches.

"It's going to be a difficult game," Weaver added. "I think they are a step up in class from our last two opponents.

"They're a tough nut to crack and they've been that way for some time under Darrell Clarke. They're a good solid outfit and they've got a lot of experienced, talented players, so they're not just solid, they can cause problems, so we will have to be on it.

"We'll be looking to reduce their opportunities to score again because that has obviously stood us in good stead over the last couple of games, being more solid, but obviously we want to carve out opportunities to score and be fluent in front of the home fans.

"We've got to build on the last two games, which have been good, four points from two hard games on paper, we are pleased with it and keen to keep the run going."

Town were beaten 2-0 by Vale when the sides met earlier in the season, with the Valiants triumphing by the same scoreline on their previous visit to Wetherby Road.

Kick-off at the EnviroVent Stadium on Tuesday evening is at 7.45pm.