Harrogate Town midfielder Alex Pattison a doubt for Colchester United clash

Alex Pattison was substituted during the second half of Harrogate Town’s 3-0 win at Scunthorpe United after reporting a pain in his knee. Pictures: Matt Kirkham

The influential midfielder had to be replaced in the second half of last weekend's 3-0 success at Scunthorpe United with a knee problem and it remains to be seen whether he will recover in time to take on the U's.

"Patto felt something behind his knee, it was sore in the area where the hamstring meets that part of his leg," Weaver explained.

"We'll have to assess him between now and Saturday and see how he manages in training. We're still not sure yet if he's going to be okay for Colchester.

Harrogate Town manager Simon Weaver watches on from inside his technical area at Scunthorpe United's Glanford Park.

"But, the good news is that it's nothing serious, it's not an injury that is going to keep him out long-term."

Town have already lost the services of a number of key players, with on-loan Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Lewis Richards the latest to discover that he will not feature again this term.

The 20-year-old pulled his groin early on in last week's home loss to Leyton Orient, with a scan establishing that the severity of the damage to the muscle will keep him out for some time.

Fellow loan star Brahima Diarra has also returned to parent club Huddersfield Town after injuring an ankle at Bristol Rovers.

Skipper Josh Falkingham is another who will have to sit out the remainder of 2021/22 with a foot problem, as will left-back Lewis Page.

“It has been an extremely tough season in terms of injuries, hasn’t it,” Weaver added.

“To lose Lewis Richards is another blow. He’s played a couple of games and looked really good, done well and then got injured. He came back from the first groin problem and was again playing well before it happened again. It’s a shame for the lad and for us, particularly as we are now without two left-backs at the same time.

“That’s four lads out injured now and we will miss them all. They’re all very good players, who I believe would get in pretty much any team in this division.

“It’s been a strange situation with the amount of injuries. They’ve all been sustained in different incidents, on different pitches and by players who have had quite different workloads.

“But, we have just got to get on with it. Fortunately, I think we have got a fairly strong squad, which was proven by the fact that we went to Scunthorpe on Saturday and managed to win 3-0 in a game that saw us create seven or eight really good chances to score goals.”