Scunthorpe United v Harrogate Town: Sulphurites receive more bad news on the injury front

The Sulphurites kicked-off the 2026/27 season minus the services of a number of key men and will be missing at least five players at Glanford Park after wing-back Lewis Payne was ruled out.

The 22-year-old has made a bright start to life at Wetherby Road following his close-season arrival from Morecambe, but did not feature in Bank Holiday Monday’s 2-1 win over Gateshead having been withdrawn at half-time during the 3-1 defeat at Aldershot three days earlier.

Town boss Simon Weaver was initially hopeful that the quad issue that Payne was struggling with would resolve itself in time for him to be involved at Scunthorpe, but has subsequently been informed that the ex-Southampton defender will not be available.

"Payney will be missing, unfortunately,” Weaver said. “He’s picked up a quad strain similar to the one that he had at Morecambe last year.

"So, we have got to nip it in the bud and give him the amount of time needed to get it properly right.

"He might be out for two or three weeks.”

Injuries mean that Town will also be without experienced midfielders Bryn Morris and Ben Fox at Scunthorpe, plus young forward Rohan Vaughan.

Veteran defender Tom Lees, who is still yet to make his Harrogate debut after joining the club in the summer, is back in training, but also misses out and is unlikely to be ready to play for another fortnight.

Winger Ellis Taylor is another player to have begun training again following an injury lay-off, though it remains to be seen whether he, or on-loan Middlesbrough midfielder Brayden Johnson will be involved at the weekend.

Having started against Aldershot, Johnson was not even in Weaver’s squad on Monday having found himself struggling with an ankle issue in the lead-up to that showdown with Gateshead.

Right-sided defender Lewis Cass is also a doubt and faces a late fitness test on a sore quad, while goalkeeper Mark Oxley is being monitored by the club’s medical team after needing injections in his hip.

And, centre-half Tom Bradbury is another one with a question mark hanging over him after he had to be withdrawn at half-time against Gateshead due to feeling unwell and suffering with an elevated heart-rate.

The good news for Town is that new recruit Sam Dreyer, who signed from Torquay United for an undisclosed fee earlier this week, is in contention to make his first appearance for the club.

Harrogate travel to North Lincolnshire fifth in the National League standings having taken 10 points from their opening five fixtures of 2026/27.

Scunthorpe, by contrast, sit 19th on four points following Monday’s 4-2 loss at Carlisle United.

Town have faced-off with the Iron on four previous occasions in recent years, with all of those games taking place in League Two.

The Sulphurites won two and lost two of those matches, with the most recent meeting ending 3-0 in their favour, at Glanford Park in April 2022.