Tuesday night saw a number of players return to the mix following injury and suspension absences, and manager Paul Simpson has his fingers crossed that tomorrow afternoon’s weekly press conference will contain more better news following an all-action contest.
“I’m hoping we’ve got no problems tonight,” he told us. “I don’t know at the moment. I saw a massive scar down Owen Moxon’s thigh, where he got caught, but I hope everybody comes through fit.
“There were some of the lads out there who certainly looked like they needed that 90 minutes, or the 60 or 70 they got out of it.
“They looked as if they were treading water a little bit, so hopefully they’ll benefit from that. It’s up to us to get them freshened up and get them ready to go on Saturday for what will be another tough game, in front of our fans, where we want to make sure we do it properly.”
“Hopefully Jack Stretton will pick up with his training,” he added. “He probably wasn’t close for Tuesday, he has done some work and felt really good, so he’ll be back with the group if there hasn’t been a reaction.
“I would fully expect Jack to be available for the weekend. And Jon Mellish will be back from his suspension.
“I’ll be glad that he’s back but I don’t think Corey did that badly. I just said to him at half time, I know you’re not going agree with it, but I’ve got to change it, because in my opinion we weren’t going to get anything out of the game if we’d carried on that way.
“We had three at the back who were looking after one in Armstrong. We talk about being front foot and stepping out and stepping on to their players, we didn’t, we had a problem because their two midfielders played quite wide and high.
“The two wide players were holding the width and coming off the line, so we didn’t know whether to stick or twist. So, their shape caused us a problem.
“But let’s be fair, I think Matty Daly’s a good footballer. He was a player I looked at for England U19s, and I think the two wide players are good players who cause problems. I think Armstrong is a very, very good striker.
“We’re talking about decent players. I just think we had opportunities in this game where if we’d done it properly we could have caused them a lot more problems.”
Credit goes to the group for the way they kept battling to eventually get the point.
“It’s character, it’s just about character,” the manager told us. “They’ve stuck at it, kept going, and we’ve created some good chances.
“Probably our best chances came in those last few minutes. You’ve got to give the players credit for that. I felt we just looked a bit leggy, a bit lethargic, for whatever reason. But yeah, there’s a positive that we got a point out of it.
“If we win on Saturday, it will have been a decent week. But I’ll still be frustrated that we haven’t won this one.”
Also magnificent on the night were the fans.
“I think that’s what annoyed me even more because we get unbelievable support and it’s actually not a pleasant walk when you’re having to come off over there in front of them, when it hasn’t gone well,” he said. “I experienced that last season.
“On Tuesday we gave them something right at the end to stay with us. I think they saw we had desire and effort at the end to try and get something, but it shouldn’t have been like that in the first place.
“If we’d gone about our jobs properly we’d have been celebrating three points. That’s not me being disrespectful in any way to Harrogate, they’ve had a right good go.
“They’re scrapping for their lives, but if we’d been properly on it we wouldn’t have to be worrying about a late equaliser.
“I think the fans know that. They were absolutely magnificent, from the second we came out of the tunnel, behind the goal and to the side as well.
“They supported us, kept with us to the end, and they were brilliant. Thankfully we gave them something to cheer and take home with them at the end. We’re just disappointed we couldn’t have given them more.”