Harrogate Town AFC

Watch the Gaffer's pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday's league contest with Mansfield Town…
 
 
 
The Gaffer evaluating our first five games…

It's been a really bright and positive start. The lads have been energetic and played with a good amount of edge in their game so it's been a really positive first few weeks.

On the selection difficulties ahead of Saturday…

They certainly are tough decisions and it's not getting any easier as the days go by. I thought the lads all did themselves the world of good on Tuesday and they've all staked their claim. It's not just about Saturday, every game will be treated as horses for courses but we know now we've got a good squad who are all competing for places in the starting XI.

On what Jack Diamond will add…

Fast, aggressive, go getting. Someone who's willing to take people on without fear of recrimination of getting tackled, he'll just get up and get the ball again and commit defenders. He's excited us before and I'm sure he'll do it again this season.

He could well be (included in the squad for Saturday). We'll assess the squad over the next two days but we'll be making decisions today so we can talk it through with the players involved and those missing out.

On whether he's happy with the quality and depth of the squad…

Yeah definitely. I think we've got a nice balance of competition for places without having two large a squad which can become troublesome off the pitch when trying to keep everyone happy.

I think we're now in a position where we can rotate, preempt a bit of tiredness and look after people. It's not a case of come what May we have a starting XI and then players bulking up the squad, we've got starters throughout the squad and everybody has to feel valued so we will rotate.

On preparing for Mansfield…

We're expecting an entirely different team from Mansfield. I think Nigel Clough made no secret after the game that he wasn't too concerned with the performance the other night because he made lots of changes.

We're expecting them to be really up for Saturday that's for sure but I fully expect us to be just as up for this league encounter and play with edge, pace and energy again and make sure we're very competitive.

We know what we want to achieve in each game. From the analysis we know we can still tighten up defensively but we expect to shift the ball about quickly but first and foremost nail the fundamentals of what we're about, which is being a really competitive outfit, winning the first ball, second ball and going from there.   

#ProudToBeTown