Tranmere Rovers v Harrogate Town: Simon Weaver implores Sulphurites to 'come out fighting'

The Sulphurites visit Tranmere Rovers this weekend in need of a positive result having suffered back-to-back losses to Salford City and AFC Wimbledon in their two previous outings.

Town had won three on the spin prior to their midweek defeat at Salford, but their display there was so bad that Weaver labelled it "embarrassing."

And with Saturday's showing against the Dons barely any better, Harrogate's manager knows that his players have to produce some kind of a reaction on the Wirral.

As he has pointed out, the Sulphurites' cause in those two recent losses was not aided by the absence of a number of key members of personnel, but with that situation unlikely to improve prior to this Saturday lunchtime's game, Weaver needs his team to show its mettle.

"Confidence is a bit low and it is amazing, the twists and turns,” he said.

“Will it ever be anything else than up and down? Well, I’ve got to try and be better so that it is more than that, but an understrength Harrogate Town squad might not have it all their own way all the time, and this is just a little spell like that.

"But you can’t play the victim, we just have to come out fighting this week."

Town head to Tranmere 19th in the League Two standings, while Rovers sit two places and three points worse off in 21st.

They have come out on top in just one of their last seven league matches, failing to win any of their previous four, and earning just a single point since beating Newport 2-1 on November 9.

Last time out, Nigel Adkins’ men went down 3-0 away at Chesterfield.

Rovers do however boast an excellent League Two record against Harrogate and are unbeaten in eight meetings, winning five of those matches and drawing three.

Last season’s corresponding fixture finished 3-0 to Tranmere, while they also triumphed 2-0 at Wetherby Road.

Town have managed two cup victories at Prenton Park, winning 2-1 in an EFL Trophy tie in December 2021, and on penalties in the League Cup in September 2020 in what was their first-ever Football League fixture.

The Sulphurites will definitely be without midfielders George Thomson (achilles) and Josh Falkingham (shin), winger Ellis Taylor (quad) and defender Liam Gibson (hamstring) on Saturday, while Stephen Dooley (head) is rated as extremely doubtful.