Harrogate Town will meet Carlisle United this weekend despite missing a number of key players due to an illness that has spread throughout their squad.
The Sulphurites, who were missing six men due to illness and injury at Port Vale in midweek, had only seven members of their squad fit to exercise on Thursday morning.
And, while manager Simon Weaver hopes that the situation inside the Town camp will improve slightly before Saturday’s crucial match against the Cumbrians, it appears that they will be substantially under strength.
“We are looking a bit depleted at the moment,” Harrogate’s boss revealed.
“The disease is still present, and the training site was rather depleted on Thursday. There were just seven guys training, so we’ll see how we do over the weekend. The lads are ill. The symptoms are flu-like, and patients are bedridden and unable to get up during the day. They’ve been wiped out.
“It’s difficult, but this is simply another challenge that we must face. We have a lot of grit in there, and all we have to do now is try to find a solution.”
Josh March and Ben Fox were out for Tuesday’s game at Vale Park due to injuries, while Tom Hill and Tom Cursons both limped out in the closing stages of the goalless draw.
Leading goal-scorer March could return this Saturday, and fellow forward Cursons faces a late fitness test, but Hill will miss out due to a hamstring problem.
Forward Jack Muldoon is another doubt due to an eye ailment that necessitated hospitalisation.
James Daly, Town’s winger, has missed the last two games due to illness, while Anthony O’Connor, Town’s normally dependable centre-back, has also been sidelined by the same virus ahead of the midweek trip to Vale.
Both men were scheduled to train separately from the rest of the group on Friday, and they will be hoping for a similar recovery to that of defenders Jasper Moon and Liam Gibson, who were both taken ill earlier in the week but were well enough to be included in Weaver’s match-day squad when Harrogate faced the Valiants.
Meanwhile, midfielder George Thomson, last season’s leading scorer with 18 goals, remains on the long-term injury list due to an Achilles problem.
Saturday’s encounter, which begins at 3 p.m. at Wetherby Road, is critical to both Town and Carlisle’s survival chances.
Victory for 20th-placed Town could put them 11 points clear of the relegation zone and in a very healthy position with only 10 games remaining.
A win for rock bottom. United could push them out of the bottom two, putting them seven points behind the Sulphurites with a game in hand.
