Southend United v Harrogate Town - ‘We’re not here to just survive’

The 2019/20 National League play-off final winners kick-off their maiden League Two campaign on the road at Southend United this afternoon.

And despite the fact that he has already led the Wetherby Road outfit to two historic promotions in the space of just three years, boss Weaver insists that today’s fixture represents the start of a new chapter, rather than the end of the story.

“We’re delighted to have the prospect of playing in the Football League,” he said.

“We’ve worked so hard to get here and we feel that we deserve our place at the table. There’s no trepidation, we want to make our mark and compete. We view this as an opportunity to show our fans, and prove to ourselves that we do belong in the Football League.

“It will be very much like when we went up to the National League two years ago. We’ve got to respect the level and sample what it’s about before making any grand statements of intent. I don’t want to make a rod for my own back.

“But, we’ve set off on this journey by not setting limits and we’re fresh from a promotion and full of optimism. We don’t just want to survive in League Two. Once we find our feet in this division, we’ll be striving for more -–that’s just in our nature.”

Weaver added to his four initial summer signings by bringing in two more players on the eve of Harrogate’s showdown with the Shrimpers.

Left-back Dan Jones has joined on a season-long loan deal from Salford City, while ex-Brentford goalkeeper Melvin Minter has agreed a short-term contract.

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James Mitchinson