Stevenage FC v Harrogate Town: Adaptability key to Sulphurites' evolution

The Sulphurites have spent all but the last 18 months of their 107-year-history in non-league, but haven’t looked out of place since sealing promotion to the fourth tier in the summer of 2020.

They began 2021/22 superbly and were in and around the automatic promotion places during the early stages of the campaign before embarking on a slide down the table as autumn turned to winter.

A 4-0 mauling by Newport County earlier this month left Harrogate winless in five League Two matches and prompted Weaver to switch to a new-look 3-4-3 formation, one which his players appear to have taken to rather well.

They kept a rare clean-sheet as they eased to a 3-0 success over basement boys Oldham Athletic last Saturday and looked solid for almost the entirety of their EFL Trophy quarter-final showdown at Sutton United in midweek, only to be stung by a late sucker punch.

Thus, the acid test will come at a resurgent Stevenage on Saturday afternoon, with Weaver stressing that change was necessary.

“I think it has been proven over the last couple of games that the squad is good enough to adapt,” he said.

“It was needed. Just because we’ve come far in the last few years it doesn’t mean to say that we can go again by just doing the same things.

“We have to be flexible and adaptable and we’ve done that in the last couple of games. We have tried something different and we know now that we’ve got the quality to be able to look at opponents and change it accordingly. It’s great knowing we have that ability to vary our tactics.

"We're expecting either a 4-3-3 or a 3-5-2 [from Stevenage], so we will be looking at both their systems and seeing how we can make inroads and create chances without losing track of what we have been doing, which is keeping a solid platform."

Currently 12th in the League Two standings, the Sulphurites head to Broadhall Way on Saturday (3pm) looking to narrow the eight-point gap between themselves and the division's final play-off berth.

But they will come up against a Stevenage side transformed since Alex Revell was replaced in the managerial hot-seat by Paul Tisdale.

Nineteenth-placed Boro have lost just one of their last six matches, winning two and drawing three in that time.

The two sides played out a goalless draw when they met at Wetherby Road earlier this season, while last season's corresponding fixture ended in a 1-0 win for the hosts courtesy of Elliot List's 52nd-minute strike.

Harrogate left-back Lewis Page is a doubt for this weekend's encounter with a tight hamstring picked up at Sutton United on Tuesday, though Weaver expects that he will recover in time.

Right-back Ryan Fallowfield and winger Simon Power will however definitely miss out.

New loan signing Calum Kavanagh could feature having arrived from Middlesbrough on Friday, while Jack Diamond is available again having been temporarily recalled from his season-long loan by parent club Sunderland.