Harrogate Town v Crawley Town: Sulphurites must avoid flat display as they bid to build momentum

Harrogate Town's players celebrate taking a 2-0 lead against Bradford City on Saturday afternoon. Pictures: Matt Kirkham

A goalless draw with Mansfield and a derby success over Bradford City mean that this is what the Sulphurites will end a run of three consecutive home fixtures with if they manage to overcome Crawley on Tuesday evening.

But manager Simon Weaver is taking nothing for granted and says that his team needs to play with "intensity" as they prioritise avoiding defeat over going "hell for leather" in search of victory.

"We're definitely determined to try and get the three points, but it's important that we don't lose the game, first and foremost," the Harrogate boss said.

"We can't go hell for leather and leave the back door open. We've got to play with our brains as well as out hearts and if it's a point, it's a point and we move on. We want to sustain this nice little run.

"We want to build some momentum now. It's four clean-sheets at home on the bounce and we haven't had that for many a year. All aspects, we are looking to improve step by step because it would be good to get on a run.

"I think that when you're coming off two games like that it does give you great confidence going up against any team. But, I've been there before where we've had a couple of really good games and the third game, it's a bit flatter.

"We've got to create our own atmosphere on Tuesday, we need to make sure we meet it with the same intensity, otherwise you can come away with nothing. We've got to imagine it is another local derby, win the first headers and tackles."

Harrogate climbed up to 11th place in the League Two standings following their 2-0 win over Bradford last time out, while Crawley currently sit 14th.

John Yems' side have won just one of their last six, though Weaver knows that the Red Devils will provide his players with a difficult test.

"They're always a battle, they're tough games," he added.

"They have been on a decent run themselves and have got good attacking threats. They play a very different system to what we've been playing against the last couple of games.

"But, we've just got to focus on the first part of the game and get stuck into it.

"It's not like we always have to be the perfect form of ourselves, but we can have the perfect reactions and really good energy and play with an edge, which is really important when you're Harrogate Town."

Kick-off at the EnviroVent Stadium on Tuesday evening is at 7.45pm.