Harrow's goalkeeping crisis deepened on Saturday, when on-loan Laurie Walker played on through the pain barrier after injuring his ankle.

The Millwall teenager had already picked the ball out of his net twice inside the opening 20 minutes, when he fell awkwardly after diving to his right to cover another shot.

Limping gingerly for the remainder of the first half, the former MK Dons youth teamer told Harrow boss Dave Howell he was fine to continue, yet his immobility was clear for all to see after the break, and defender Tobi Jinadu took over kicking duties.

He returned to the Lions for treatment on Monday and it is still unclear whether he will return to Earlsmead to see out the remainder of his month loan deal.

"Laurie hurt his ankle," confirmed Howell. "Sometimes if I don't know a player too well, as is the case with Laurie, I am unsure how bad their injury is or whether there is pride getting in the way. He knows he should have done better for their first goal and was caught out for the second, so maybe he wanted to play on.

"Maybe it affected his confidence a little and that could have had an unsettling effect on the rest of the team. It was a rude awakening for him in the sense we were up against it so early on in the game.

"When they scored the fourth goal you could see his kicking had become a little erratic. But I cannot judge him so soon as I don't know how much his injury upset him both physically and mentally."

Luckily for Howell his first-choice keeper Andray Baptiste has recovered from a knee injury that kept him sidelined for most of last month.

The gangly former Rayners Lane stop-per was present at Earlsmead last weekend and, should Saturday's match at Canvey go ahead, is likely to regain the number one shirt.

"He has had the stitches removed from his knee and would have been involved on Tuesday had the game been on," added Howell.

Howell is still pressing ahead to bring in another goalkeeper, regardless of whether Walker returns. Baptiste's main challenger, Gary Ross, has agreed to join Uxbridge in a deal that will still keep the door ajar for him at Harrow.

"Gary has spoken to Uxbridge and me about the situation," said Howell. "He will sign on a dual registration, which suits all parties. Gary told me that he loves Harrow and didn't want to go, but that he wanted to take a look at Uxbridge and see what's what.

"I told him not to stay and have regrets and advised him to see what the grass was like on the other side. If he likes it, great, but if he does not he can always come back, as the decision has no finality about it. He was torn about what to do and was relieved when we had the conversation.

"I've spoken to a few managers who have offered me their number two goal-keepers, but are looking for us to pay something towards their wages," he continued. "I'm scouring for players for all positions."

One of those other priority positions will be up front. Dewayne Clarke has gone off the boil of late, Gary Noel and Miles Jones have been unable to nail down a regular starting spot and long-term absentee Darren Grieves has been ruled out for the rest of the season, as he is due to undergo surgery next week to rectify a persistent bowel problem.