Harrogate Town AFC

We've been chatting to Town striker and former Bantams player Jon Stead about his return to the line-up, as well as coming up against the club he spent two seasons with…
 


Stead on his return to action against Bolton and Leyton Orient…

“It's been great. We had a decent result and a good performance on Tuesday night and that followed a good performance against Bolton but not the result we wanted. As far as I'm concerned, it's great to be back in the squad with the lads on a matchday.

On how his body felt after a full 90 minutes…

It was alright. Obviously I've not played for a long time so you can condition yourself as best you can but it's not the same as having that match sharpness and fitness which is required for the full 90 minutes.

I was pleased I got through it and I felt I got stronger towards the end of the game so it's promising signs and hopefully I can continue that.

On what he added to the team against Leyton Orient…

I'm not sure really. I like to get hold of the ball and feel like I can create things. I think I've got a decent touch and can pass the ball. Maybe I gave us a bit more of a focal point in terms of the ball being played on the deck rather than a taller presence.

I think we've needed to improve that side of the game and in the final third  and final areas of the pitch I think we've needed more controlled possession.

Hopefully I've helped a bit with that. We finished really strong on Tuesday night and we were pushing for another goal. That's testament not just to myself but to the boys as well who have been at it all season.

On his spell out of the team…

You've just got to train the best you possibly can, keeping in mind you're part of a team and organisation so you don't do anything too out of the ordinary, you just make sure everybody is ticking over and encourage the players that are playing. When the opportunity does come you've got to try and take it and that's been the case for me.

There's been a group of 5-6 of us that'll train with the fitness coach on a matchday and mentally, that can be draining, especially on younger players so I think I've found myself in the role of making sure they're still upbeat.

You can be disappointed but still do the right things and I think the manager has seen that, not just from myself but the other lads that are out of the team. Kev Lokko and Connor Kirby are two that I've been doing work with and they've been training excellently well so hopefully they'll get a little chance to shine towards the end of the season.

On his time at Bradford…

It's a fantastic club, really family orientated and have a fantastic fan base. I enjoyed my time there and the game against them earlier on in the season where we had a great result and I started. Fond memories but it's a largely different squad to one I was in.

On this Saturdays' derby…

I'm expecting another high tempo game. We've set standards now, especially in the last two games I think we've shown what we're capable of.

The hard work and everything that we've done throughout the season in our maiden voyage in the Football League, we've got to a position where we're pretty much safe with five games to go.
 
We need to use that with a bit of pride and go into the remaining games full confidence and enjoy it and show what you can do.

It might not be for myself but especially for a lot of the lads, you're showing what you can do for next season so it's important everybody finishes the season as strongly as possible and the club goes into next season full of confidence and relishing the challenge again.

#ProudToBeTown