Harrogate Town v Stevenage FC: No danger of Sulphurites underestimating out-of-form opponents

Harrogate Town were held to a goalless draw last time the entertained Stevenage at the EnviroVent Stadium. Pictures: Matt Kirkham

The Sulphurites head into the game joint-second in the table but aiming to get back to winning ways after three matches without a victory.

On paper, they will start as favourites against a Boro team who have not come out on top in any of their last eight matches in all competitions and were beaten 4-0 at home by Forest Green Rovers last time out.

Weaver, however, says that Town will be taking nothing for granted.

Sulphurites boss Simon Weaver says he is 'proud' of his side's start to the 2021/22 campaign.

“Stevenage performed well against us both times we played them last year,” the Harrogate boss commented, reflecting on a 0-0 draw in 2020/21’s corresponding fixture and his side’s 1-0 defeat away from home.

“They had the better of it in terms of results and they’ve got a lad up front who scores for fun, and plenty of goals in their team. They may not have been winning games of late, but we certainly cannot afford to underestimate them or take them lightly.

“We know that we will be in for another difficult encounter, but to be honest we are just glad to be back on home soil and in front of our own supporters.”

Town’s previous home outing saw them held by Newport County, a result which took them to the top of the table, but was followed by their first loss of the campaign – at Port Vale at the weekend.

Tuesday night’s 2-2 draw with Crawley means that Weaver and his men could really do with a maximum-point return if they are to continue to challenge at the summit, though the Harrogate chief insists that there is no desperation creeping in.

He added: “We’re eager to get three points, yes, but in the same way that we didn’t get too carried away after the first six games, we’re not worrying now.

“We haven’t won in three, but we’ve still managed a couple of good draws against strong opponents. In the game we lost, pretty much everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong in the space of one match.

"The important thing is that the performance levels have been there. Normally the day after a game, I'll feel something if I don't believe we did ourselves justice. Today [Wednesday] I feel happy after the performance at Crawley.

"If you look at the league table, I'm still very proud of the start we have made."