ALFRETON Town visit York City tomorrow having scored five goals during back-to-back contests against top-two Harrogate and Salford without picking up a point.

The Reds followed up a 3-2 home defeat to Salford last weekend with a 4-3 thriller at Harrogate who, as a consequence, took over from their Lancashire rivals at the head of the National League North table on Tuesday night.

But the Wetherby Road outfit were given an almighty scare before hitting the summit, with Alfreton recovering from trailing 4-0 after 34 minutes to reduce the deficit to a single goal by the second half’s midway point.

The Derbyshire visitors were then only denied a share of the spoils at the death when Harrogate keeper James Belshaw made a brilliant save to thwart James Baxendale.

On-loan Gateshead striker Nyal Bell inspired the comeback with a brace of headers after making his debut as a substitute and the Manchester-born, 21-year-old is expected to now start against the Minstermen.

Former Notts County and Portsmouth striker Craig Westcarr, 33, is the team’s top scorer this term with 12 goals, but the former England under-21 international was an unused sub at Harrogate and, with Bell’s emergence, might need to settle for a place on the bench again.

After 11-goal, ex-Harrogate forward Brendon Daniels, former City defender and current Bootham Crescent community coach Tom Allan is the visitors’ third top scorer on six.

The 6ft 4in, 23-year-old also claimed two assists at Harrogate

Allan’s fellow former Minsterman Tom Platt, meanwhile, has netted three times in 30 matches this term and is lining up in his more recognised midfield role after being sent off as a defender during the meeting between the two sides earlier this season.

The pair have been mainstays of Alfreton’s side with only keeper Chris Elliott, centre-back Luke Shiels and Bradley Wood – a National League championship-winning full-back with Lincoln last term – having made more starts during 2017/18 than Allan’s 30 and Platt’s 29.

Elliott remains a doubt, though, this weekend after missing out at Harrogate due to a broken nose, which saw on-loan Aston Villa recruit Viktor Johansson deputise.

American defender Ned Wagner, meanwhile, could be handed a full debut after replacing the injured Lee Beevers on Tuesday night and veteran former Mansfield and Grimsby midfielder Craig Disley is hoping to be fit after missing the Harrogate match.

Seventeenth-placed Alfreton will arrive at Bootham Crescent as the division’s fifth-highest marksmen on the road with a tally of 24 away goals only beaten by top-seven sides Harrogate (36), Blyth (33), the Minstermen (33) and Spennymoor (28).

A return of five away victories cannot be bettered either by any side outside of the top eight, although three of those triumphs have come against bottom-four teams Leamington, Telford and North Ferriby.

The North Street side have also only failed to score in one of their last 15 games – the 1-0 Boxing Day defeat at Stockport – a sequence that has helped lift the club five points above the relegation zone, although 20th-placed Telford have three games in hand.