Harrogate RUFC will take 'never say die' approach with National Two North relegation looming

The Aces' chances of survival are extremely slim following Saturday's 21-12 home defeat to fellow strugglers Huddersfield, a result which left them 18 points shy of safety and effectively relying on third-from-bottom Preston Grasshoppers not winning again this term - or even earning more than one bonus point.

Even then, the Rudding Lane outfit would need to come out on top of all of their last four matches to have any chance of escaping the drop zone.

That looks a tall order for a team who have emerged victorious in just five of 22 league outings so far in 2022/23, however player-coach Fox says there is no danger of him and his team-mates chucking in the towel.

"If we end up going down, we will go down fighting," he told the Harrogate Advertiser.

"We know it's going to be incredibly difficult to stay up now, but we genuinely believe we can achieve something special during these final four games.

"The approach is very much 'never say die' and until it's mathematically impossible, we will keep fighting.

"The way we are looking at it is that all we need to do on Saturday is win our game and then if Preston lose, it keeps us in the fight for another week.

"That's all we can control, so that's the aim for this weekend."

Even a Harrogate win against visiting Tynedale and a loss for Preston at Hull Ionians might not be enough to save the Aces if the Grasshoppers manage to secure losing bonus points, though Fox insists that his side have more to play for than just survival.

"It's still the case that we have a lot to play for over the next five weeks,

"Whether it makes any difference to our league position or not, there is still plenty at stake for us as a team.

"I honestly don't think that we've had one game all season where we have really shown what we are capable of over the full 80 minutes, and we owe it to ourselves to show what we can really do.

"There have been plenty of glimpses, 20 minutes or 40 minutes here and there where we have performed really well, but we've not been able to pull it together for a full game.

"We've got a talented enough group of players, we just need to pull it all together and stay switched on and stay in the game for the duration.

"So, for me, there are four more opportunities to do just that, and that has to be exactly what we are aiming for."

This Saturday's must-win clash with seventh-placed Tyendale kicks-off at Rudding Lane at 3pm.