Harrogate Town will 'give every drop of effort' in preparation for season-defining clash with Barnet FC
Simon Weaver has promised that he and his Harrogate Town players will “give every drop of effort” in the build-up to this Saturday’s season-defining showdown with Barnet (3pm).
The Sulphurites head into the final weekend of 2025/26 second from bottom of the League Two table, but within touching distance of safety.
Behind 22nd-placed Crawley on goal difference alone, and just a point shy of both Newport County and Tranmere Rovers, the men from Wetherby Road simply need to better the result of one of the aforementioned sides in order to survive.
Fresh off the back of consecutive wins over Walsall and Colchester, Town will head into their clash with the Bees in a positive frame of mind, and their manager has vowed that his team will give it their all.
“It’s been a good week of training. There has been good energy about the place. We are all up for it,” Weaver said.
“It’s such a big game and we will give it every drop of effort in the lead-up.
"We will go about our business just as we did last week, and try to stay level-headed. Players like routines and we do, and we’ve won two out of two.
"From our perspective, the responsibility on us as coaches is to be able to deliver a plan that is clear, and not be clouded in our thinking.
"It’s easier said than done against a team as adventurous as Barnet are, but we know the strengths of our players, and we are a buoyant group who have really been digging in. We are in good nick at such a pivotal time for the club.”
With so much at stake, and a positive result required to give Town a realistic chance of survival, Weaver says that having an “attacking mindset” will be key to his players’ chances of escaping the drop zone for the first time in four months.
"We will approach Saturday in the same manner as we have the last couple of games,” he added.
“We have been in the bottom two for months and had it in our head that we just have to go and get it. We have to have an attacking mindset and full focus on getting a positive outcome.
"It’s not about always being pretty and worrying about being judged on that. This is about finding a way, finding a winning performance, and climbing out of the bottom two at the last hurdle.”