An injury to referee Mark Sutton took centre stage as Harrogate Town drew 0-0 at Stafford in a wind-affected game.

Both sides created a brace of good chances during the 13 minutes of stoppage time once a stand-in linesman had been recruited from the crowd.

Stuart Pierpoint deflected Darren Dunning's injury-time chip on to the bar to deny Town all three points.

"The wind spoilt the game and made it very difficult to play, so we'll take a point," said Town boss Neil Aspin.

"Stafford are a difficult team to play against because defensively they're very good and if they score the first goal it can become difficult for teams to try and break them down."

Aspin's side were not helped by a first-half injury to top scorer Danny Holland.

"He's got a spasm in his back and was struggling to move so he had to come off," Aspin told BBC Radio York.

Defender Shane Killock marked his last game on loan from Huddersfield by clearing a Nick Wellecomme shot off the line, but it looks unlikely that his stay will be extended.

"He's done a good job for us and is a credit to Huddersfield, himself and his family," said Aspin.

Defender Justin Whittle was withdrawn late on as a precaution ahead of the likelihood of Killock going back to Huddersfield and with next week's important FA Cup tie at Eastwood coming up.

Although Aspin was pleased with a clean sheet, Town have not scored since the 4-0 rout of King's Lynn two weeks ago.

"Whenever you think you've got a part of the team working well, another problem comes along," added Aspin.