Dan Udoh scores on Salford return to earn win over Harrogate

Dan Udoh marked his return for Salford with a late goal to secure a 1-0 win at Harrogate.

The substitute’s 85th-minute effort saw the visitors celebrate a third consecutive win without conceding, as Karl Robinson’s men took advantage of the early kick-off time to move within a point of the automatic promotion places.

Salford could have wrapped up matters earlier and been out of sight by the interval but on-loan Ipswich goalkeeper Henry Gray made smart saves to deny Jorge Grant and Josh Austerfield, while Cole Stockton missed the target with two excellent opportunities.

After the break, away skipper Luke Garbutt also called Gray into near-post action.

But it took two substitutes to combine to break the deadlock, with ex-AC Milan, Liverpool and Chelsea attacker Fabio Borini sending Udoh clear through the left channel and the attacker firing inside the home keeper’s left-hand upright from 10 yards.

The bottom-of-the-table hosts, who have now only managed to score more than a single goal once in their last 25 league games, managed just one attempt on target all afternoon – a weak edge-of-the-box Reece Smith effort that was comfortably gathered by Salford keeper Matt Young.