Harrogate Town v Salford City: Sulphurites must 'go again' in quest to escape drop zone

The Sulphurites got themselves back to within touching distance of safety following two victories in the space of three matches last month, but have not managed to go on and win any of their last three, thus missing the opportunity to climb out of the bottom two.

And although their defeat at MK Dons at the weekend was their first in six outings, that result kept them rooted to the foot of the division.

However, victory over Salford at Wetherby Road could well be enough to see Simon Weaver’s men climb above 23rd place for the first time since December, should results elsewhere also go their way.

And the Town boss is backing his players to deliver a positive reaction following the disappointment of that 4-1 defeat to the Dons last time out.

"This is a bright bunch of players, and I don’t think that it will take much for them to bounce back,” he told BBC Radio York. "We are all in it together and it is a tight changing room.

"I’ve said to them ‘let’s be better than the rest of the teams that are down there [in the table] in terms of how we react to a disappointment.

"We just dust ourselves off, and we go again.

"It’s an aim of ours [to climb out of the bottom two on Saturday], and it is a big carrot. We will be going all out for it because we know how much it means.”

While Harrogate head into Saturday’s contest bottom of the pile, the Ammies will arrive in North Yorkshire aiming to consolidate sixth spot and strengthen their position inside the play-off places.

But, Karl Robinson’s team’s form has been rather mixed of late. And, although they have won their last two, the fact they have been turned over by the likes of Newport, Shrewsbury and Cheltenham in recent weeks will provide Town with genuine hope that they can do likewise on Saturday.

The Sulphurites’ head-to-head record against City is however fairly poor, with just the one victory chalked up in the previous 15 meetings between the sides.

They were beaten 1-0 when the teams met at Salford earlier this season, Daniel Udoh converting a second-half penalty after Weaver’s men had spurned numerous chances to take the lead.

Last term, the Ammies triumphed 2-0 at Wetherby Road on New Year’s Day, with Town’s only Football League success in this fixture coming back in September 2023, when Abraham Odoh netted a late winner to seal a dramatic 3-2 win.