WHARFEDALE have called up Tony Jackson to fill the No 8 slot for their National Division Two game against Harrogate at The Avenue tomorrow, (writes Tony Simpson).

Jackson has made only a handful of appearances for the Dalesmen this season since returning from a trip to Australia, his playing opportunities being restricted by a calf injury early in the season and a series of job interviews as he seeks to get a banking career underway.

An outing with the Foresters on Monday night, however, convinced the management team that he is fit enough to step up to first-team duty alongside Paul Evans and Phil Hargreaves, with Richard Maunder going onto the bench.

"This is very much a one-off selection," says coach Peter Hartley. "Tony is going to Spain to learn the language after Christmas and will not be available for us, on the credit side, he will be starting a job in the area in the summer and we expect him to be available for us next season.

"His performance on Monday was enough to remind us that he is a still a very good player and we have put him in to face Harrogate."

Elsewhere the make-up of the side is less assured.

Philip Peel and David Whitfield are both ruled under the regulations regarding concussion, while the impending birth of a youngster leaves Craig Ingram's availability in doubt. John Metcalfe stands by, with Chris Greenwood set to go onto the bench if Ingram pulls out.

Behind the scrum, the Dalesmen are hoping that Sam Cotterill will be recovered from a hamstring injury and fit to resume at scrum-half, Matt Birch standing by after his debut last weekend, while Simon Slater continues at fly-half and was due to travel up from London for a mid-week session at Giggleswick School. Andy Baggett partners Chris Malherbe at centre.

The only other uncertainty surrounds captain Andy Hodgson. He has a spot of knee trouble, but was hopeful of shaking it off and playing tomorrow.

"We're looking down the barrel a bit after last week's defeat and Stourbridge's win, but despite the result at Sedgley Park, I thought we played as well as we have since the Penzance trip." says Hartley. "There was plenty of commitment and effort, but we also managed to keep our shape and pattern of play better. It was one of those games that a team with a string of wins behind it would have won. The performance was a definite improvement on a poor showing against Stourbridge and we need to move on again against Harrogate.

"I thought that with a new half-back pairing and a different combination at centre, we played reasonably well, but we need to build on that. It is easy to look over our shoulders at Stourbridge, but we can't afford to do that any more.

"A more worrying development was the fact that the four teams immediately above us now have a three-point cushion and we need to close that gap. We have games against these teams coming up in the New Year and it is important that we get our game together again before we tackle these matches.

"But while league placings are always going to matter, what concerns me most of all is the need for us to play to the best of our ability.

"We need to get some ambition back into our play for all our games, not just the ones like Penzance. We can't afford to play below par against anybody in this league."

While the league table is bound to supply weekly incentive for a little while yet, any game against Harrogate does not require an added dimension. The balance of power has probably drifted towards the Claro Road men in recent seasons, but on home soil, the Greens will still believe that if they can put their best foot forward they can come out on top.

*Wharfedale have decided to contest one of the two yellow cards issued by the referee at Sedgley Park. While they concede that Neil Dickinson was fractionally offside when he was banished to the sin-bin, they contest that the decision to send off Andy Baggett for 10 minutes was completely erroneous.

"The referee had issued a general warning, but the incident took place immediately in front of the camera and on the evidence of the video, we are contesting not that the decision was harsh, but that it was wrong." says coach Peter Hartley.

Wharfedale: from - J Davies; C Eccleston, A Baggett, C Malherbe, A Hodgson, G Johnston; S Slater, S Cotterill, M Birch; C Ingram, J Ogden, N Dickinson, J Metcalfe, C Greenwood, D Lister, A Capstick, P Evans, P Hargreaves, T Jackson, R Maunder.