Harrogate Town v Salford City: Sulphurites need to produce more 'moments of quality'

A sequence of four consecutive victories means that only runaway leaders Walsall currently boast a better recent record than the Ammies, who climbed into a play-off spot courtesy of Sunday’s 1-0 success over Morecambe and now sit just one point shy of second place.

Even more concerning for a Sulphurites side that has taken just a solitary point from the last 18 on offer, is the fact that Karl Robinson’s men haven’t conceded a single goal during that purple patch.

His own team has been far from fluent as an attacking force of late, and Simon Weaver knows that Town will have to “take the game” to Salford at Wetherby Road, and find a way to conjure up more “moments of quality”.

"Salford are a powerful outfit, as they are every season, they’ve got good pedigree in their squad and are very well-organised and stubborn in defence,” the Harrogate chief said.

"So, we have to show up on the day, be brave on the ball and take the game to them. We need moments of quality to break defences down

"You’ve got to have a moment in the game where someone shows a bit of quality, and Stephen Duke-McKenna has popped up with a couple of moments in the last couple of games – an assist, and a fantastic direct free-kick goal at Grimsby.

"It’s not all down to one player, it’s a real collective effort, but we do need those moments.

Town’s track record in fixtures against Salford is fairly awful, the Sulphurites having won just one of the last 13 meetings between the teams.

The most recent head-to-head took place less than a month ago and saw the Ammies ease to a comfortable 2-0 success on home soil, leaving an angry Weaver to rue a performance which he described as “embarrassing”.

But Harrogate did manage to come out on top in last season’s corresponding fixture, ending a long run of 11 matches without a victory against City.

Leading 2-0 through George Thomson’s penalty and a Sam Folarin strike, Town saw that advantage disappear in the second half, only for Abraham Odoh to pop up with a dramatic late winner.

Town will once again be without long-term casualties George Thomson, Liam Gibson, Ellis Taylor and Josh Falkingham on Wednesday afternoon.

And left-back Matty Foulds is now also a doubt having been forced off during the latter stages of Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Fleetwood due to muscle tightness.

Kick-off at Wetherby Road on Wednesday afternoon is at 3pm.