Harrogate Town striker Luke Armstrong backed to rediscover scoring touch sooner rather than later

Harrogate Town' s leading marksman made a flying start to life at Wetherby Road after joining the club from Salford City last summer and, having netted 11 times in 33 appearances, boasts a more-than-respectable scoring record.

But, he has notched just once in his last 13 outings in all competitions and has failed to hit the back of the net in 12 consecutive League Two matches, despite starting up front and playing the full 90 minutes on all but two occasions.

The 25-year-old's most recent league strike came away at Walsall on November 13, however his manager is backing him to get back on the goal-trail sooner rather than later.

“I’m sure that Luke will be a bit frustrated because he loves scoring goals," Weaver told the Harrogate Advertiser ahead of Saturday's trip to Rochdale.

“But, we’ve got faith in him because he’s a top striker.

“He’ll be disappointed not to have scored for a while, but as a team we have got be better at feeding him and at feeding the pace and power we have in our side.

“Once Luke gets one, he’ll get a load more. And that will be great for him and great for us as a team as well.”

Town looked toothless up top for the majority of their midweek defeat to Crawley, with Armstrong and strike partner Jack Muldoon rarely in the game.

Livewire wingers Brahima Diarra and Jack Diamond combined to get the hosts on the score-sheet during that 3-1 defeat and, it was in the wide areas that they looked most dangerous.

As a result, Weaver has questioned whether his front men could have done more to impact proceedings, citing the effectiveness of Red Devils forward Tom Nichols during Tuesday's contest as an example his own attackers can look to.

"It's a bit of a fight League Two at times, sometimes you have to find a way to get into the game," he added.

"On Tuesday, Crawley had more punch than us in the final third. They have a centre-forward in Nichols who was excellent. He’s streetwise. You look at him and there’s no weight on him, he looks like a typical skilful player and an individual talent, but probably one who you could bully.

“But he’s actually really wily. He’ll stand behind the centre-halves and lean into them or manage to affect what they’re doing without doing enough to give a foul away. It’s clever stuff.

“You learn that over time and he’s probably played 200 games at this level, whereas a lot of our lads are catching up in terms of experience of League Two.

“He found a way of getting in the game, found a way to wear us down and played his part in two goals, setting one up and scoring with a great strike.”