Three points were all that mattered, insists Harrogate Town manager Simon Weaver

The Wetherby Road outfit played some decent stuff and were in the ascendancy for the most part without quite hitting top gear during their 2-1 success at the CNG Stadium.

But, after a run of just one win in six matches and a performance Weaver described as “disgraceful” at struggling Sutton United last time out, the Town chief was less concerned about the aesthetics, setting his focus firmly on achieving the desired outcome.

“The all-important thing was getting the three points, and overall, I think we deserved them," he said.

“Driving in to the game, I just thought ‘it is so important that we get a result’ because the spirit, the emotions around the place can do a full spin from last week’s disappointment.

“Being honest, the last 20 minutes were a bit nervy for me because we needed that win to be right in it [the promotion race] - and we are, seven points off top.

“But also, we’re coming into a run of games and you want to have that tonic of three points in December and be able to build from there.”

Weaver had demanded a reaction from his players following on from the 3-1 reverse at the hands of Sutton in their previous game, a result that he admitted hurt both him and the group.

Yet, having eventually managed to put that disappointment behind them, he said his players came up with the right response, with a little bit of help from some video footage.

"We were hurt by last week, we dropped standards from sevens and eights out of 10, to threes and fours. It wasn't good," Weaver added.

"I like to go in with a smile on my face on Monday morning come what may, but I didn't last week, I was still really hurting and it probably took us until Thursday to get everything out of our system.

"We showed the players footage of the Sutton game and the great thing about the video is that it's objective.

"Without that help, people are thinking 'what's he having a go at me for, I thought I did okay?' - I was the same as a player, and you're not focused on the process involved.

"But the video doesn't lie. We went through a lot of clips where we were giving the five-yard passes away and weren't winning the first ball. That's not my opinion about what happened, it's just facts.

"So, if we don't argue with the facts and keep working hard and strive to improve then we've got a chance of being a good team."