Harrogate Town v Crawley Town: Reds still 'licking their wounds' as they prepare for 500-mile round trip to Sulphurites

Gaffer John Yems has said how his side are 'still licking our wounds' after conceding another injury time goal that saw them lose two points at home to Stevenage last time out.

The Reds were 2-0 up just after half time thanks to a brace by Tom Nichols, before a comeback in the last 10 minutes by the away side was completed in the second minute of added time.

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The result meant Crawley remained in the bottom half. Had they held onto the points it would’ve seen them stay above Harrogate, who secured three points in a 2-0 home win against Bradford to climb above the Reds.

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On the Stevenage game, Yems said: “We’ve got to keep learning from these things.

"We get criticised for not seeing games out by the same critics who when we scored the last-minute goal at Bradford, we all seem to suddenly know what we’re doing. It’s just one of them things. I think mentally we’ve just got to get over it and don’t worry about it, move onto the next one.”

Reds are again looking to bounce back and face Harrogate in the reverse fixture that saw a 2-2 draw earlier in the season.

“We’re a expecting a tough game, they’ve done really well up there as a football club," he said. "It’s a good place to go and play your football. They’re good footballing people up there and deserve everything that they’re doing, we’re looking forward to it.” Yems said ahead of the match.

Ahead of the Harrogate game, and heading into another packed fixture schedule, Yems spoke about welcoming the new signings and returning players into the squad.

He said: “The only way you’re going to get time in their legs is to play them. Hopefully, we know the players better than most of the people watching and what they’ve been through injury wise. You’ve got to do it in the game, it’s not the perfect world by no means.

"The good news is, we’ve got a few back now and the squads looking decent.”

However, Yems warned of the danger of looking past the Harrogate game: “That’s a long way away (the run of home games), let’s just worry about Harrogate.

"The way this season has been you can’t tell what’s going to happen.”

Despite an overall average home results for the hosts the season, they’ve got it right as of late, with Harrogate unbeaten at home since December 11.

The travelling fans may be forced into taking two days off work, hoping the Reds can end Harrogate’s near two month unbeaten record as they make the trip up to North Yorkshire.

The gaffer was hopeful their support will be rewarded.

He said: “It’s fantastic (the away support), hopefully they get to see us play and they see a couple of mazy runs up and down the pitch by our players.

"We like to see people getting through things and striking balls. It doesn’t matter where they are. Let’s hope we have a couple mazys up there.”