Harrogate Town 'in a better place' as pressure starts to ease in battle to beat the drop

The Sulphurites travel to Northampton on Saturday six points clear of the relegation zone and knowing that victory at Sixfields would all-but guarantee they will be a Football League club once again next season.

And, while he insists that his players cannot afford to take anything for granted with four games left to play, the Harrogate chief feels that the pressure is easing.

“We have been keeping our heads above water, but obviously we have doubled the points difference in one night with results going our way on Tuesday," Weaver said.

"We haven’t sealed the deal but we have taken a step closer.

“We view the table in a more positive light now, it’s a great feeling but we have still got to make sure that it doesn’t swing back the other way.

“We have got some difficult matches coming up, however we are in a better place.

“The pressure is probably not still at the pitch it was before Tuesday, but it is still on because we are not safe yet.”

Tuesday’s result and the fact that 21st-placed Town’s goal-difference is vastly superior to second-from-bottom Hartlepool United’s means that the County Durham outfit now need a mini-miracle if they are to overtake their fellow strugglers in the table.

Pools need to secure at least seven points from their last three matches, while hoping that Harrogate fail to add more than two to their own tally during their remaining four fixtures.

Should John Askey’s team lose to 22nd-placed Crawley on Saturday then the Sulphurites are effectively safe, barring an unlikely swing in goal-difference. In the event that Pools do lose that game, one more point would be enough to mathematically guarantee that Town cannot go down.

Meanwhile a victory for Town at Northampton this weekend, or in any of their remaining matches, or indeed three draws, would also be sufficient to ensure their survival unless Hartlepool manage to win all of their final trio of fixtures and score enough to bridge that significant gap in goal-difference.

Currently, United are 17 goals worse off than Weaver’s men, leaving them with a huge amount of work to do in that respect.