Harrogate Town midfielder Lloyd Kerry's injury not as bad as first feared

The midfielder suffered damage to his right ankle following a strong challenge by Moussa Diarra and was substituted in the 66th minute.

A break or fracture was initially ruled out, though the severity of the damage to Kerry's ligaments could not be determined until he underwent an MRI scan.

A grade three ligament tear would have left him requiring surgery and facing up to 12 weeks on the sidelines, though the results of his scan indicate that the injury is not as severe as first feared.

Club physiotherapist Rachel Davis explained: "Lloyd has a grade two rupture of his calcaneofibular ligament in his right ankle as well as a grade two tear of the deltoid ligament.

"There is also some soft tissue damage from where the other player landed on top of him, but to be honest, this is much better news than I was expecting given the size of the swelling.

"It was good news that there was no break or fracture, however grade three ligament damage would still have left Lloyd needing surgery and facing maybe 12 weeks out.

"With grade two damage we can manage his rehabilitation in-house and he should be back playing in four to eight weeks."

Kerry's unavailability will force boss Simon Weaver to make at least one change to his starting line-up for Tuesday night's visit of Notts County, though he currently has no other injury concerns.