Carlisle United Football Club

“It’s a situation where we’ve made calls about both players,” he confirmed. “The answers have been very positive and it’s a case of continuing to hope that their parent clubs don’t have any injuries and that we get them both back up here. 

“Both lads have been big players for us. I think they’ve really enjoyed themselves and they have integrated with the group really well. They’ve added quality so they are certainly players we want to keep hold of.”

“I think the key is that they’re getting minutes in competitive games, and that’s real for them. They’re at stages in their careers where that is important for them. It gets them the valuable experience they will need to help them to go up to the next level. Hopefully we’ll get a definite answer early next week and we can take things on from there.”

And on his ongoing search for new blood, he said: “We’re not expecting anyone in ahead of the weekend, but you never know. 

“March is a difficult month because we’re finding that clubs don’t really want to let their players go. They want people around in case they suffer injuries. I must have phoned 15 or 20 clubs about getting players in and they are all very reluctant to do it. It’s been another part of the learning process for me. 

“We are still trying and we do have one or two irons in the fire. We’re not as hopeful as we were two or three weeks ago but we’ve still got to keep asking the questions. We’ll keep cracking on because I definitely want to bring in two or three players if at all possible. 

“We’re low on bodies and I do think we will need the numbers. We’re getting the maximum out of the group at the moment so it’s vitally important that we get some help. We’ll keep looking for the right players at the right price.

“We made a couple of calls this morning [Thursday] but we’re still waiting for answers. If we did it then it would mean bringing the player in, getting him up here tonight and then training with him in the morning. That’s all a bit of a rush. If it happens, great, but I’m not holding my breath.”

But the manager revealed some good and bad news on the injury front.

“The good news for us this week is that James Berrett is fit and he should be available for selection,” he revealed. “Unfortunately Matt Robson had a bit of a setback with a back problem and we’re not sure how long he is going to be. 

“Sean O’Hanlon isn’t quite ready yet and Paul Thirlwell will also be missing. We’ve been unlucky with quite a few injuries to key players recently and that has obviously been a huge problem for us. However, it is what it is and we go again with the opportunity we have against Port Vale at the weekend.”

“It’s been an unusual one with Matty Robson,” he continued. “He picked his baby up yesterday and he felt a twinge. That’s frustrating because we thought he was over his groin problem from last week and that he would train today and tomorrow. It’s a good job that Chants [Chris Chantler] has come back in and hopefully he’ll do the same as he did against Brentford last weekend. We had some good performances and, whoever is selected, we hope to see more of the same again.”