Harrogate Town midfielder Alex Pattison's knee injury not as bad as first feared

The influential midfielder had to be replaced at half-time having reported that he was struggling to run due to a pain in his knee, and later left Victoria Park on crutches.

Town were worried that 25-year-old Pattison had damaged his meniscus, a piece of cartilage located in the knee which acts as a shock absorber between the shinbone and the thighbone, however a scan has revealed that the issue is less severe.

"It’s not a meniscus problem as we first thought, so that is positive news,” Simon Weaver told the Harrogate Advertiser.

"Alex was in some discomfort on Saturday, but he has had a couple of days of rest now and is doing better. We’ll get him in on Thursday and have a closer look and just take it day-by-day from there.

"He had a flare up with this part of his knee last season and required an injection which settled things down, so it is still a bit of a concern.

"If he is fit enough to play at Rochdale this Saturday then he will, but we are going to have to wait and see how he progresses and obviously we need to take care of him.”

Rachel McGeachie, Town’s head physiotherapist, shed more light on the nature of the injury that Pattison is contending with and explained that the time-frame for his return to action will depend on how quickly he responds to treatment.

"Patto has what we call iliotibial band friction syndrome, which is where the iliotibial band repeatedly flicks or rubs against the bone on the outside of the knee,” McGeachie said.

"That repetition causes stress at the joint which eventually becomes so painful that you can't run, which is what happened to him on Saturday.

"He has had this problem before, however the symptoms presented themselves differently at the weekend and we feared that he would need surgery on the cartilage inside his knee.

"We had him scanned on Monday and the results which came back were better than they could have been because iliotibial band syndrome is treatable, although it's an issue which can require surgery eventually if it continues to affect him in the long term.

"He left Hartlepool on crutches but he's doing a lot better already. How long he is out for just depends on how he responds to the treatment we will be giving him."

Having already lost their other in-form attacking midfielder, Matty Daly, to a knee injury, Town could really do without Pattison being out for any significant period of time.

Of the 24 goals that Harrogate have scored in all competitions during 2022/23, Pattison (six) and Daly (six) have netted 50 percent of them.

"As attacking central-midfielders, Patto and Matty Daly are really what this 4-3-3 system we have been playing is all about. We’ve been buzzing about them,” Weaver added.

"We’ve already lost Matty, whose class we missed on the ball on Saturday because he adds fluidity and a cutting edge.

"We’re hoping that Patto won’t be out for too long.”

Daly has been ruled out for eight weeks and joins goalkeeper Mark Oxley (hand), centre-half Will Smith (knee), midfielder Stephen Dooley (groin and foot), winger Max Wright (ankle) and striker Dior Angus (ankle) on Harrogate’s long-term injury list.

This Saturday sees 20th-placed Town return to League Two action when they visit 21st-placed Rochdale (3pm).