Scoring first is key to Harrogate Town's chances of climbing the table, says George Thomson

The Sulphurites were beaten 1-0 by Salford City at Wetherby Road on Saturday, the ninth time in 11 outings this term in which they have gone on to lose after falling behind.

Of the six league wins that they have recorded since their maiden promotion to the EFL this summer, Simon Weaver's team have broken the deadlock on each occasion, a statistic that backs up the 28-year-old midfielder's assertion.

"We started the game brilliantly," Thomson said of this weekend’s defeat to the Ammies. "Up until the goal, we were the dominant team playing some really good stuff and getting ourselves into good areas. It's at times like that where we've got to make it count.

"That is down to us as players to make it count and get our noses in front. Then we've got something to defend.

"What we're finding when we concede first is that teams are taking the sting out of the game. Salford had something to defend and that's what they did. They slowed everything down.

"That's why I think that if we score the first goal, like we did on Tuesday night [at Exeter] when we got in front twice, then we are the team who can slow it down and control things and manage the game.

"It's things like that, we're leaning. We're not putting in bad performances, we're playing some good stuff at times. We just need to try and make sure that, more often than not, we are the team who scores first."

Thomson is correct when he says that Town haven't been playing badly in recent weeks. Since their 5-2 mauling by Scunthorpe United on December 1, they have been very much in every game that they've contested.

The problem is, is that Saturday's defeat was their fourth in their last five league matches. The fact that they are too often conceding first is a huge problem when they keep drawing a blank at the other end.

What's more, they continue to shoot themselves in the foot by making errors at the back which are gifting their opponents goals. Defensive lapses or individual errors have led directly to all of the last four strike that have found the back of James Belshaw's net.

Easier said than done, but Thomson is adamant that once Harrogate cut out the mistakes, results will undoubtedly start to improve.

"We concede as a team, we score as a team. I think everybody has to look at themselves and make sure that we're all doing the right things, as a team, not just as individuals and that we're helping each other out," he added.

"I think that once we cut out those mistakes, results will start turning and we'll start picking up more points because we're not playing badly, everybody is putting a shift in. It's little moments in the game and, if we can eradicate them, then results will change.

"I think it is just a matter of time before it clicks. It's about consistency and making sure that it's not just one game where we go and score two goals, it is game after game.

"Once that happens the results will come."