Simon Weaver has received a transfer boost with the arrival of two exciting young midfielders on loan from Huddersfield Town until the end of the season, the club confirmed via their website on Tuesday.

20 year-old Josh Austerfield and 18 year-old Brahima Diarra have swapped West Yorkshire for North Yorkshire, arriving at The EnviroVent Stadium to provide Harrogate Town boss Simon Weaver with an injection of youthful midfield talent until the end of the season.

Austerfield, who has been with Huddersfield Town since the age of seven, is a versatile central midfield player who can operate as an attacking midfielder as well as being able to drop into a more defensive role when needed.

Since joining Huddersfield from Leeds amateur side Drighlington in 2009, Austerfield has made two senior appearances for The Terriers, with his debut coming in an EFL Cup match against Rochdale in the September of 2020 before following that up with an FA Cup appearance at the beginning of 2021 against Plymouth Argyle. He's also spent time away on loan with Brighouse Town and Hyde United respectively, both of the Northern Premier League Division.

Hailing from the suburbs of Paris, 18 year-old Brahima Diarra began his young footballing career in the French capital where he spent time with local clubs Montrouge F.C. 92 and AC Boulogne-Billancourt respectively, where he would appear on Huddersfield's radar and join the club in the July of 2019 before signing his first professional contract the following year.

With pace to burn, Diarra has operated predominantly as a 'number 10' playing off the striker, but he also possess an impressive amount of power for such a young player and this combination could mean the potential for utilising Diarra from a wide position too.

Like his Huddersfield and now transfer counterpart, Diarra has also featured twice at senior level for The Terriers in which he made his debut as a substitute in a Sky Bet Championship away game against Bournemouth in the December of 2020 before appearing in the same FA Cup game as Austerfield against Plymouth Argyle. He would also sign a contract extension with Huddersfield last summer until 2024.

Speaking on the new arrivals in an interview with the club's website, Terriers boss Simon Weaver said: "Both Josh and Brahima have got a huge amount of potential and we're excited about giving them game time, which will be invaluable for them and us. We don't see them as just on the periphery players, we see them challenging the current starters and really enhancing our chances of doing well this season.

"They're both midfielders but both have different strengths. Brahima is an attacking midfielder and Josh is capable of playing as either an attacking midfielder or holding player. Josh is very tall and got great guile, while Brahima has got a low centre of gravity which makes him very skilful and dynamic on the half turn but he's very robust as well."

Josh Austerfield will wear the number 19 shirt and Brahima Diarra will wear the number 22 shirt. Both will be in contention to make their debuts this Sunday as Harrogate travel to Kenilworth Road to take on Luton Town in the third round of the Emirates FA Cup.

The Verdict:

Sitting in 11th place and five points off the play-off places in Sky Bet League Two, Simon Weaver has got his Harrogate Town side firmly in play-off contention as the second half of the season begins. And with the arrivals of Josh Austerfield and Brahima Diarra, Town may just of received a booster injection of two exciting young players to add some flair to their attack.

As Weaver has stated, the new arrivals have not been brought in to sit on the bench and clean senior players' boots, they'll be pushing for starting spots and will provide established first-teamers such as Alex Pattison and Josh Falkingham with reason to look over their shoulders should performance levels drop.

And for Town fans, these are the types of signings that will undoubtedly get the juices flowing, as this Terriers duo certainly look to possess the ability to get fans out of their seats. And with further additions likely to be made over the remainder of the January transfer window, the race for the Sky Bet League Two play-offs looks certain to involve Harrogate Town as the run-in begins to take shape.