Harrogate Town determined not to rely on results elsewhere as they aim to secure League Two status

The Sulphurites, who visit Newport County on Tuesday night, technically still require one more point from their three remaining fixtures to ensure that they cannot be overtaken in the League Two standings by second-from-bottom Hartlepool United.

But, with a six-point advantage and a far superior goal-difference over the County Durham outfit, it would take an end-of-season disaster of the most epic proportions for the men from Wetherby Road to slip into the bottom two.

They would have to lose heavily to the Exiles, Mansfield and already-relegated Rochdale, while Pools need to beat Barrow and Stockport handsomely in order to effect the 17-goal swing required for them to climb above Town.

So, while Harrogate could in theory come away empty-handed from each of their upcoming trio of games and still survive, bpss Weaver says he will not settle for that and is instead eyeing a strong finish to the campaign.

"We are a lot happier about our situation now," he told the Harrogate Advertiser. "It's been a big month for the club in terms of grinding out a number of results, some important fightbacks and last week's hugely-important win against Walsall.

"It's been a real mental battle. Even though we lost at Northampton on Saturday I told the lads after the game that I am proud that they've held their nerve and stood up to what has been a big ask and very nearly got us over the line.

"But it is our responsibility now as a management team to ensure that we finish the job ourselves and get the results that we need to make it mathematically certain. It's also the responsibility of the players as well, it's about having professional pride.

"We don't want to end the season with a whimper. We want to end strongly, in line with the way we have performed during the majority of our last 14 or 15 games, so in these next three fixtures we will be aiming to satisfy our own thirst for points.

"And I hope that we can actually try and enjoy it now that the pressure isn't as intense as it has been. It has been tense, there's been a lot of gritty stuff, but now we have a bit more freedom to play, so it's about showing how good we can be in these circumstances."

Their 3-1 loss at Northampton last time out was 21st-placed Harrogate's first in seven matches, and Newport also head into Tuesday's contest in decent form having suffered just two defeats in 10.

Currently 14th in the table, they beat Doncaster 3-1 on Saturday and Weaver is expecting a seriously tough examination at Rodney Parade.

"Like us, Newport are a team who are playing with quite a lot of confidence at the moment," he added.

"We know that they can be a real threat. I watched the coverage of their win at Doncaster and two of their goals came from those from massive throw-ins into the box.

"But balls into your penalty area, those deliveries and that type of pressure, they're all regular occurrences at this level. I know we conceded a bit of a freaky one from a corner against Northampton, but defending those kind of situations has been one of our strengths during the second half of season.

"We know that we need to nail that side of the game on Tuesday night, but we also have to look to pass the ball and play the way we did against Northampton and make sure that we are causing Newport problems ourselves."

Town’s showdown with the Exiles gets underway at 7.45pm.