Hartlepool United v Harrogate Town: Sulphurites cannot afford any drop-off in intensity

The Sulphurites travel to Victoria Park on Saturday afternoon with a place in the FA Cup third round and £67,000 in prize money up for grabs.

They visit County Durham fresh off the back of a convincing 3-0 success over Mansfield last time out and determined to build on arguably their best performance of the season to date.

And although Weaver accepts that his players have every reason to head into this weekend’s game full of confidence, he was keen to stress that one good win doesn’t mean they’ve “suddenly cracked it.”

He told the Harrogate Advertiser: "When we came back in for training on Tuesday we started off by watching a compilation of clips that we’d put together of the things that we did well against Mansfield and the parts of our game which worked really well.

"But we also reviewed the areas in which we need to tighten up and things we can improve upon. Just because we are coming off the back of a really good performance and result, that doesn’t mean we’ve suddenly cracked it.

"So the message to the lads is ‘don’t take your foot off the pedal, don’t relax’. We’ve got to keep that intensity about our game, we’ve got to keep passing the football and keep creating chances.

"In the last couple of weeks, the lads have been outstanding in training. There’s been a healthy balance between everyone being really competitive and wanting to win and them all having smiles on their faces at the same time.

"It was good to see them come back this week after a couple of days off and train with the same attitude and intensity and that bodes well for Saturday’s game because we really want to build on that win against Mansfield.”

Town triumphed 1-0 away at Bradford City in round one to set up their meeting with Pools, who required a replay, extra-time and a penalty shoot-out to see off National League Solihull Moors.

This weekend’s trip to County Durham will be Harrogate’s second already this season, having lost 2-0 there in an EFL Trophy group stage game back in August.

And they still have to return a third time, with their League Two fixture at Victoria Park scheduled to take place on January 1.

The sides met in the league in North Yorkshire last month, with the Sulphurites registering a crucial 2-1 win over their fellow strugglers courtesy of strikes by Alex Pattison and Jack Muldoon.

Last season, Weaver’s men visited League One Portsmouth at the same stage of the competition, Luke Armstrong and Jack Diamond finding the net as they shocked their higher-division hosts.

Having never progressed beyond the second round before, Town’s reward for their Fratton Park upset was an historic third-round showdown with Championship Luton, a game they went on to lose 4-0.

Kick-off against Hartlepool on Saturday afternoon is at 3pm.