"We've got that hunger back" - Max Wright on Town's season so far, competition for places and promotion chances

The winger is the second-oldest member of the squad, and one of their longest-serving players, having joined initially on loan from Harrogate Town in January 2023.

And from his more experienced vantage point, Wright is encouraged by what he is seeing from The Shaymen, who sit just outside the play-offs heading into Saturday's home game with bottom side Ebbsfleet.

"I don't want to say I'm an older player but I am!" Wright said.

"From what I see, I'm seeing a lot of lads who we'd have liked to have found their feet earlier on in the season but I'm seeing lads now get comfortable in the group, integrate a bit better and with a good couple of performances, they're starting to look and feel like they're at home now.

"That's what we want, I think we had that last year as well with a couple of players.

"I know I didn't kick on until about the midway point, but I'm seeing lads really start to shine now.

"It feels to me recently that we've got that hunger back, everybody's scrapping to get in the starting 11.

"We're a team that's winning games and every player wants to be back in it."

Wright says that hunger stems from the training ground, where sessions are competitive and keenly-contested.

"I've been at clubs where, perhaps with older players you don't get that as much, you train with the stabilisers on," he said.

"We don't have that here and in my opinion, that's credit to the gaffer because I believe he's brought in a lot of young lads that are very hungry, so lads are going to fight for their position.

"No-one's here doing their final rounds or just picking up a wage, lads are battling, young lads are trying to get their careers back on track.

"That's the way I see it, and that's why there's so much hunger and there's a fire in training.

"It's a great thing to see because it makes training competitive and fun, and it's clearly showing on the pitch with the run of results."

Wright says he feels the pressure himself to maintain good performances in order to keep his starting place.

"The gaffer's great with the older players, but nobody's position is secure," he said.

"It doesn't matter how many games you've played for the club or how well you played the week before, you train properly, you get in the starting 11.

"We've had quite a mixed team this year, which shows.

"A few injuries don't help but if you're not performing, you come out, if you don't perform in training, you come out.

"If you perform in training, you get your chance.

"It's a great little system we've got going and let's hope we keep kicking on and getting better."

Wright added: "It's not been long since I came back in, my position in the team is never secured, which is why it's important to battle every week.

"Wingers spend half our time defending to help the team out - I think I only had one shot on Saturday.

"But that's what you've got to do to get in the team and hopefully I can kick on.

"I've missed a chunk of the season so far but hopefully I can keep playing well.

"But the most important thing (against Solihull) was getting three points and keeping a clean sheet for Jonno (Sam Johnson), who got his 150th clean sheet for us, which is unbelievable.

"Let's hope I can kick on and the team can really start hammering some points and some good performances."

Town have only lost one league game in the last two months, but their last two results - winning at promotion rivals Gateshead and Solihull - have been particularly impressive.

And Wright believes Halifax can count themselves as genuine promotion contenders.

"Absolutely, to play against a team who are also promotion contenders in Solihull, and have I wouldn't say a comfortable victory, but a pretty good performance and saw the game out very well, and with the position we are in the league, it puts us up there," he said.

"We've been doing that quite a lot this season, we're on a good run at the minute and it absolutely puts us up there as contenders.

"We're on a good run at the moment and I'm seeing lads finding their feet, people like Owen Bray, who's had a couple of cracking games in a row now.

"We need him to start kicking on and helping the team, all of us do really.

"Hopefully we start doing that."

Halifax can take encouragement from their record against the teams above them: as well as beating Gateshead and Solihull recently, they have taken four points off Barnet and have drawn against Altrincham, Oldham and Forest Green Rovers.

"They're pretty great statistics, but funnily enough, it's quite frustrating because we seem to do well against the top-half of the table and we struggle a little bit against the bottom half of the table," Wright said.

"So it's a positive and a negative, but I think we should be proud about how we turn up to games against the top half of the league.

"We really go into it with a good mentality and there's been some good performances, hence the run we're on."

Next up for The Shaymen is a home double-header, barring postponements, against relegation-threatened Ebbsfleet and Fylde, offering them the chance to transfer their fantastic away form to The Shay.

"We talk about it as players, and we know our away form is excellent," Wright said.

"Over previous seasons I've been, the away form was excellent too.

"There's probably reasons why we're not as good at The Shay - in my opinion, lack of noise and the pitch certainly doesn't help.

"We are a footballing team, and we've got young lads who can play football so The Shay doesn't help, but excuses are excuses.

"You've got to find the dog in you to get a win.

"It doesn't matter where you play, what the pitch is like or what situation you're in, you've got to crack on and get those three points. It doesn't matter how.

"I feel like we did that last year, we had some poor games at home but there were games where we dug in and won 2-1, 1-0 and we found a way to get three points.

"That's the sign of a play-off chasing team and I'd like to see if we can find that now at home."

If they can, Town would give themselves a great chance of reaching the Football League.

The most direct route - winning the National League - might be unlikely, if not impossible, but should Halifax finish in the play-offs, Wright feels they would have as good a chance as anyone else if they maintain this form.

"If you'd asked me at the start of the season, I'd have said we've got as good a chance as anybody," he said.

"But this league is so tough, you can't be taken for mugs in this league.

"It doesn't matter how good you are, we've seen some teams with some good budgets and great history that don't make the play-offs.

"I look at us and think we're doing ever so well, but you can't guarantee anything.

"But if we can keep performing like we are, then absolutely."