Bristol Rovers v Harrogate Town: Simon Weaver calls for 'calm in the chaos'
IN HARROGATE Town's short time in the English Football League so far, opening-day fixtures have generally brought out the best in them.
It was headlined by a magnificent 4-0 victory at Southend United on the maiden weekend of the 2020-21 league campaign, their first game as a league club as the Sulphurites were afforded the sort of day that dreams are made.
A fine 3-0 home triumph over Swindon at the start of 2022-23 is also remembered fondly as is their derby win at Doncaster Rovers in their 2023-24 campaign. And then, there was a thrilling 3-2 success over Rochdale in their 2021-22 opener.
Events last season hopefully proved the outlier, with Town turned over 2-0 at home to EFL newcomers Bromley.
Weaver said: "It's been a really good week in training and you can feel the vibe is positive and everybody is up for it and you'd expect them to be.
"Nothing is written and we have to make sure we are intense and in the right way without being stressed and make sure we enjoy every moment and take it as an opportunity to get something on the board straightaway."
Simon Weaver's side are now assigned with upsetting the applecart - something they have proved proficient at in their time in the fourth-tier - and spoiling ex-Barnsley chief Darrell Clarke's second coming at Bristol Rovers.
Weaver, without Levi Sutton and Jack Muldoon, added: "I am expecting a big home crowd to be roaring them on early on and we have got to be calm in the chaos and manage ourselves with discipline and execute the game plan to the best of our ability.
"And if we do that, we can calm it right down and then take our moment to shine.
"On the first game of the season, away at Bristol Rovers, there's no greater opportunity to do that."