Salford City v Harrogate Town: Selection decisions aplenty for Simon Weaver ahead of Ammies trip

The Sulphurites boss will have the same squad to choose from as he did for Saturday’s 3-1 home defeat to Stockport County, with defenders Kayne Ramsay and Kyle Ferguson and midfielder Stephen Dooley currently the only members of his squad sidelined through injury.

But, given the underwhelming nature of that first-half display against the Hatters and the fact that the Town chief was forced to make a double-substitution at half-time to spark his team into life, a raft of changes to Town’s starting line-up could well be on the cards.

Versatile forward Jack Muldoon and central midfielder Levi Sutton appear the most likely to come in after both made a difference having been introduced at the break, replacing the ineffective Danny Grant and fellow Huddersfield loanee Matty Daly, who Harrogate just couldn’t get involved in the contest.

Skipper Josh Falkingham was outnumbered and got overrun at times in the engine room before being substituted, while Warren Burrell endured a fairly torrid afternoon at right-back and made way for George Thomson early in the second half.

And with the rest of Town’s back-line also failing to cover itself in glory as they shipped three soft goals, the fact that both Joe Mattock and Will Smith are fit means that the Harrogate chief has plenty of options at his disposal if he feels the need to freshen things up against the Ammies.

“It’s still the same as Saturday, no new injury problems to report,” Weaver said.

"Baz [Mattock] was back fit and fine and Will is fit now, both players just missed out on the squad as Rory came in on the bench for Kayne.

"We’ve got a stronger squad now so people have to stand out in training.”

Town head into Tuesday’s clash with promotion-chasing Salford 20th in the League Two standings and having won just one of their last six games.

Even more concerning is their recent record against hosts Salford. Weaver’s men are without a victory in their last 10 meetings with the Ammies, losing eight and drawing twice since a 3-0 FA Trophy success at Moor Lane all the way back in December 2016.

They finished up empty-handed when the sides faced-off in North Yorkshire earlier this season, Matty Lund’s last-gasp goal snatching a stoppage-time success for Neil Wood’s men.

And City also came out on top last time the teams met in Salford, beating an injury-ravaged Harrogate side 2-0 towards the end of the 2021/22 campaign.