OXFORD City manager Mike Ford feels his side have been hard done by after it emerged that Harrogate Town fielded three ineligible players at Marsh Lane on the opening day of the season, writes MATTHEW BRUCE.

Harrogate were deducted the three points from their 2-1 win over City in Skrill North on August 17 after it was discovered that Adam Bolder, Craig MacGilvray and Shane Killock – who appeared for Oxford United in 2009 – had not been registered correctly.

The points deduction meant that Harrogate dropped two places to 12th in the table, but Ford, whose side are still waiting for their first win of the season, admitted it was scant consolation.

“It doesn’t help us at all,” he said. “They might have had the points taken off them, but we don’t get anything back.

“If it was just one player I would understand, but when you field three unregistered players – that’s a quarter of the team.

“Those ineligible players probably made the difference between us getting something and coming away with nothing, so it did affect us and that’s a real downer.

“It’s just another thing that hasn’t gone our way.”

Ford’s side are at home to Maidenhead United in the FA Cup second qualifying round tomorrow.