SIMON Weaver insists Harrogate Town will not be taking Concord Rangers lightly in the FA Trophy final on Monday.
Since the Wembley contest was first delayed, Harrogate have been promoted into League Two and are now close to completing their first season at that level.
But Weaver will not be taking anything for granted against their National League South opponents.
“There are no delusions of grandeur within our changing room,” said Weaver, whose side are 15th in the table.
“We might be a Football League club now, but there are no egos.
“We may well be favourites for the FA Trophy in many people’s eyes, however there will not be any complacency.
“We have a squad that is comprised of a lot of players who came up from National League North with us.
“A lot of those lads will be playing on Monday and that is the same level that Concord are playing now.
“I’m sure that their players will look at us and think ‘we could do that, we could write the same story’ and there is no chance of us underestimating them in any way.”
But, with Concord having not played since February, it has been hard for Weaver to scout the Beach Boys.“It has been a bit of a challenge because we intend to prepare for this fixture the same as any other,” Weaver told the Harrogate Advertiser.
“We put together a presentation for the lads before every match and this one will be no different.
“We need to be as accurate as possible in the analysis but it’s hard because we don’t have any up-to-date coverage.”
And Weaver has already experienced hiccups in the build up to the game.
“When I was reviewing some clips I remember thinking to myself ‘Concord have a right-winger who looks a handful’, only to then discover he’s now playing for Aldershot,” said Weaver.
“But we’ve just got to do the best we can with the footage we have from earlier this season and from what we’ve learned through speaking to contacts who have come up against them.
“We know that they’re a good footballing team.
“The National League South is a footballing division so we are under no illusions, this is definitely a side who can play.
“They’ve got a good pitch and they like to knock it about.
“They play between the lines very well but they’ve also got a strong man up front, so they can mix it up if they need to and go from A to B quickly.
“We know that they’ve got a decent goalkeeper with a history of success when it comes to saving penalties and we’re aware of the quality in their squad.
“It’s hard to predict with a lot of certainty the side that they will put out but whatever happens we are expecting a tough game.”
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