Salford City v Harrogate Town: Sulphurites aiming to sign off on a high note

The Sulphurites suffered a 5-3 defeat to MK Dons in their previous outing, ending their slim hopes of breaking into the League Two play-off places on the last weekend of the season.

But having transformed themselves from relegation candidates to genuine promotion contenders over the course of the past eight months, Simon Weaver’s men will be determined to round things off with a positive result.

Currently 13th in the table, victory could still see Town end up as high as 10th position, while 14th place is the lowest they can end up, meaning that their highest-ever Football League finish is already guaranteed.

Their recent form is reasonably strong, with just two defeats in their previous nine matches, while 20th-placed Salford have won only one of their last five games.

But history is very much on the side of the Ammies, who are unbeaten in 11 of the 12 most recent showdowns between the sides.

The one game in that dozen that Harrogate have won was the most recent meeting, at Wetherby Road on September 23 last year.

Having surrendered a two-goal lead handed to them by George Thomson and Sam Folarin, Town eventually triumphed 3-2 thanks to Abraham Odoh’s late finish.

The Sulphurites head into the match in decent shape, with few injury concerns, and boosted by the return of right-back Toby Sims, who played for the first time in almost three months when he made a late cameo from the substitutes’ bench against MK on Saturday.

“It's been a tough year for Toby and he's missed about 30 games through injury, but through no fault of his own,” said Weaver, who was delighted to have the defender back at his disposal.

"He's a dedicated lad and it was good to see him back on the pitch. He is such a decisive, forward-thinking player, determined, hard as nails and the fans love him and you can see why in the 10 minutes of playing last Saturday.”

Defender Liam Gibson remains a doubt for Saturday’s fixture as Town look to get to the bottom of a troublesome hamstring issue that has plagued him for a number of weeks.