Harrogate Town find themselves with mounting casualty list following pre-season draw at Ilkeston Town

The League Two Sulphurites played out a goalless draw with seventh-tier Ilkeston in sweltering conditions on Saturday afternoon, but lost a player in each half.

Goalkeeper James Belshaw had to be substituted in the 23rd minute with concussion following a heavy landing, while winger Reece Smith tweaked his groin just before the final whistle.

These fresh injuries come just four days after midfielder Ben Fox and left-back James Moorby damaged hamstrings during Town’s 1-0 victory at Guiseley.

And it means that, just two weeks after his squad reported back for pre-season with virtually a clean bill of health, manager Simon Weaver now has concerns over the fitness of eight players.

In addition to Belshaw, Smith, Fox and Moorby, club captain Warren Burrell, midfielders George Thomson and Levi Sutton and forward Jack Muldoon have all picked up issues of varying severity.

Burrell and Sutton have both picked up muscular problems, and while Harrogate’s longest-serving player could be back in time for July 26’s friendly with Carlisle United, Sutton has been ruled out until after the start of the regular season.

Muldoon is expected to be fit enough to play some part against Rotherham United on Tuesday evening, though Thomson’s situation is slightly more concerning.

Having spent almost a year out with a troublesome achilles issue, the 33-year-old has a problem in a similar part of his body, which Weaver says the club’s fitness staff are attempting to “nip in the bud.”

The Harrogate boss told BBC Radio York: "Without wanting to sound too miserable, that’s eight injuries in two weeks, which is not a great thing for us to have to handle at the minute, but we will be soldiering on as we always do.

"We always seem to be put under the screw with injuries and we will do what we can to get a team together for Tuesday night.

"With Warren, we are hopefully looking at Carlisle, which is lot later than we wanted it to be, just a week before the start of the season.

"Levi has no chance of being fit [before the start of 2025/26]. He has a muscle tear, which will take several weeks to put right.

"Thommo, there is a slight nerve issue with his heel that we are trying to nip in the bud, bless him, he has had a difficult time.

"And Jack Muldoon was more precautionary, a slight muscle strain, he should be okay for Tuesday.”

On the injuries his team suffered against Ilkeston, and the impact it had on their performance, Weaver added: "It was a bit stop-start like the other night at Guiseley where we suffered two injuries, and it threw us a bit, there was a bit of disappointment and a hangover for five or 10 minutes.

"And we had the same with the quite shocking event where Belly was flipped over in an unfortunate challenge which has left him with concussion. We were shaken by that.

"He didn’t know what day it was or who we were playing, so it does bother you as a manager, and we will have to go through the right protocols for player safety and see.

"We think a lot about Belly and he will only come back when he is ready.

"I only learned about Reece Smith while doing the team talk after the game because, just as the whistle blew, he tightened up.”

Goalkeeper Mark Oxley was another who missed out at Ilkeston, but his absence was due to illness, and he is expected to be fine for Tuesday’s home showdown with League One Rotherham.

Oxley’s unavailability and Belshaw’s concussion meant that Town had to rely on trialist stopper Toby Sharkey to play 70 minutes between the sticks against Ilkeston.

The youngster was previously a member of Harrogate’s academy and spent time with Tadcaster Albion last season following his release by the Sulphurites.

Assessing his performance at the weekend, Weaver said: “He was thrust into action and he rose to it.

"It’s not easy at all, but he handled it.”