Simon Weaver says Harrogate Town's fan's have an 'important' role to play ahead of Newport County clash

The Sulphurites host Newport County in League Two this Saturday (3pm) and will be hoping to attract a much bigger crowd than the 1,304 who turned up to watch the goalless draw with Crawley on August 13.

Town averaged gates of slightly over 2,300 last term, but their second home league game of 2022/23 drew their lowest-ever post-Covid-19 attendance for a League Two fixture.

And the lack of numbers inside the ground for that showdown with the Red Devils was not something that escaped Harrogate boss Weaver, who says he is hopeful of seeing gates grow over the coming weeks.

"Paul Thirlwell and I were looking around from the sideline and we feared we were well short of the kind of crowd we’ve been getting, then the attendance was confirmed,” he revealed.

"It was quiet, that’s not me complaining, but I’m agreeing with an observation. It’s always mentioned in football that the crowd can be a team’s twelfth man, and every side wants to have that driving force behind them.

"We are no different, but from the point of view of myself and the players, we can only go out on a match-day and try our very best, try and play football that people want to watch and hope that we get the numbers coming to the games.

"We are in the process of establishing ourselves as a Football League club, but we don’t just want to hang on in there, we are aiming to grow both on and off the pitch and the fans are an important part of that.”

Town will be forced into a midfield reshuffle for Saturday’s clash at Wetherby Road, with Stephen Dooley and George Thomson both ruled out through injury.

Defenders Will Smith and Rory McArdle remain on Harrogate’s injury list, as does winger Max Wright, who found himself in hospital earlier this week after the wound on his ankle where he was recently operated on became infected.

This weekend’s fixture with the Exiles kicks-off at 3pm.