The opposition: Harrogate Town travel to Shrewsbury Town in buoyant mood despite winless run
Despite a lengthy winless run, Harrogate Town arrive in Shropshire in good spirits.
The Sulphurites went toe-to-toe with League One high-flyers Stockport County in the EFL Trophy midweek, eventually losing narrowly 2-1 in stoppage time.
That followed a draw at Crewe Alexandra last weekend - their fifth away draw in League Two this season. In fact, Harrogate have picked up 11 of their 18 points on the road.
And despite being winless in 15 league matches, boss Simon Weaver remains upbeat about his side's performances.
"It certainly was a cruel way (to lose)," he said. "I thought we played some good stuff. We looked organised and the lads worked their socks off. We performed well overall against a good League One Team.
"There were some good individual performances in a yellow and black shirt and it is another decent away performance.
"We've been very competitive again and we can't just forget the performances and look at the outcome.
"We are just wanting to be a better collective game after game. I do think we look a more positive squad now with greater depth."
Harrogate head into the crucial mid-season six-pointer a point and a place below Shrewsbury Town in 23rd. Their last league win came in September against Gillingham, which followed a 2-0 victory over Salop.
In their last six away league matches, Harrogate have drawn four and lost two, and Weaver says his side share a similar mindset to Shrewsbury, who exited the FA Cup last weekend and are focused firmly on league matters.
"We have got half a season to crack this and to come out better and stronger for it," added Weaver.
"It was a good goal that we scored, the shape was good. We want to be able to mix it up, play 4-4-2 at times, but also play with two strikers in a 3-5-2.
"We have proved in the last two games that we can be a handful. It was a cruel way to go out of the cup, but if we are honest, the most important thing is the league campaign and building on Saturday's last performance.
"We have to dust ourselves down and think of the bigger picture now, and make sure we take this performance on into the league campaign."
