Carlisle manager Greg Abbott spoke to us about Manchester United central defender James Chester after he played in the 1-0 victory over Hibernian on Sunday.

He said: "I've known about him for a couple of years and it's common knowledge that the injury to Danny Livesey has been the one big blow for us this pre-season.

"We've been looking for the right kind of player to replace Danny and we think that we may just have found him. I've told him to now come here and show everyone what a good player he is.

"He's a very good defender who is a bit like Ian Harte in the way that he plays. He reads the game and he also has pace, and maybe those two would make a good partnership. I hope that's the case because we have near enough made the final agreement to bring him here.

"I think we're at the point where I can tell everybody that we have a gentleman's agreement in place. I spoke to James after the game, and it has gone well.

"He was ecstatic yesterday when I spoke to him about coming here because he really seems to want to be part of what we are trying to do. After the game today I asked him if there was anything that might have changed his mind and he said that everything was the same.

"I asked if we could have a gentleman's handshake on the deal, and we did that, so if he doesn't join us then that will mean that handshakes don't mean very much any more.

"We have agreed with him and Manchester United that he will be here until 31 December and we can then take it from there. We should be able to announce it as a firm signing after he has done all of the necessary paperwork tomorrow morning."