Fit-again Rory McArdle determined to 'put things right' at Harrogate Town

The veteran centre-half, who is closing in on 500 Football League appearances, played his first game of the current season on Saturday, coming off the substitutes' bench to help the Sulphurites to a goalless draw at Stockport County.

His absence during the early weeks of 2022/23 was due to him being sidelined with a hamstring issue, but having worked his way back to fitness he says he is determined to do his bit to get struggling Town moving in the right direction.

McArdle joined Harrogate from Exeter City in the summer of 2021, his arrival coinciding with Simon Weaver's team embarking on a superb run of form which saw them lose just one of their opening 13 matches of the campaign.

Things began to tail off for Town not long after the former Bradford City stalwart suffered a serious groin injury in late September of last year, and another groin problem in the New Year would rule him out for another chunk of games.

Out of contract at the end of 2021/22, McArdle said that he opted to sign a new deal with the Sulphurites this summer because there are “a lot of things” that he wants to try and “put right.”

The 35-year-old explained: “I want to improve on where the club finished last year. As good as we did in spells, there are still a lot of things that, from my point of view, I would like to try and put right.

“With how the club has been moving forwards in the last five years, last season probably did not see us progress as far forwards as I think we could have, so that is something that we have spoken about. We want to keep moving forwards and that’s something that I want to be part of.

“There is always ambition at clubs and the ambition here is to keep moving forwards and try and get as high as we can in the league. Looking at the players who have come in since the end of last season, we have got real quality now and that competition for places, so hopefully now we can go on a bit of a run and get ourselves moving up the league.”

His groin troubles behind him, McArdle 2021/22 in Weaver’s starting XI, featuring in 10 of their last 12 matches, including the full 90 minutes of a 2-0 home defeat to Sutton United on the final day.

But, having reported back for pre-season training with what was initially thought to be a hamstring niggle, the 6ft 1” defender ended up missing all of Town’s friendly fixtures plus their first nine competitive matches of the new campaign.

He was named on the bench against Salford City last week, and although he remained an unused substitute, he hasn’t had to wait long for his first opportunity to stake his claim for a starting berth.

“I’m delighted to get back out there. It’s been a long old summer, a long pre-season trying to get fit,” McArdle added.

“I’ve been as frustrated as anybody, not being able to get out on the training pitch. But, I’ve got to give a lot of credit to everybody in the building who helped me along.

“It’s hard at times, but it was nice to get back up and running in training and trying to get back up to speed as quickly as possible. To get out [at Stockport] on Saturday was great.

“It kind of felt strange, almost like a first pre-season game for me. I was just trying to concentrate on the basics, not get too carried away and build myself back into the game.

“I’ve got that under my belt, so hopefully I can keep moving forward now.

“The competition for places in the squad is really good and keeps everyone on their toes. People know that if, for whatever reason, they hit a poor run of form or injury or tiredness or a bit of complacency, as you’ve seen today, there’s people able to come in who will try and stake their claim.”

Saturday’s stalemate at Stockport saw Town end a run of five consecutive defeats, and although they were perhaps fortunate to come away with a point following a poor first-half showing, McArdle believes that he and his team-mates now have something to build on as they attempt to pull clear of the wrong end of the table.

“We’re happy,” he reflected. “Before Saturday’s game, we had been on a bit of a poor run from our point of view, but we wanted to build on the positives [against Salford] from Tuesday night. We knew it was going to be tough coming to Stockport.

“When you go on a losing run it’s all everyone seems to talk about so we wanted to stop it as soon as possible.

“A clean-sheet as well on top of that is something that we can build on, so it’s all about that now, keeping clean-sheets, making sure we are not getting complacent in the defensive department and continuing to work hard in training.

“A goal here and there we will start picking up some points.”

Saturday’s stalemate at Stockport leaves Town 18th in the League Two standings ahead of this weekend’s trip to high-flying Stevenage.