An influx of recent signings at Deepdale threw up the possibility this week that former-Blues loanee Ethan Walker could well be in line for another spell away from his parent club, and it will come as no surprise to anyone to hear that United boss Chris Beech has been keeping a close eye on the situation.
“Ethan’s a massive possibility, simply because he’s stayed in contact with me,” he confirmed. “He wants to be involved and initially he wasn’t recalled with his shoulder injury, but he did his rehab back at Preston.
“I felt he was starting to make real inroads into professional football when he was on his setback. In this position he was in, Preston officially recalled him, he was fully fit, and they had him on the bench at Wycombe.
“He didn’t get on in that game and since then they’ve signed a few players themselves. They’ve had a look at their squad and thought Ethan can go back out.
“Through conversation, Ethan wants to be at Carlisle United and Carlisle want Ethan Walker. We’ve got to thank people for that communication and that support.
“At the same time, until something’s done - it isn’t done.”
And with 10 days of the window left, and two new arrivals announced on Wednesday, we wondered if there was a possibility of players heading out the other way.
“There may be one or two,” he said. “We’ll see. One’s very much well down the line, it’s just a case of paperwork being sorted out.
“Until it’s actually signed it’s very difficult to share that with you.
“The squad is looking healthy with good cover. Defensively I think signing Morgan and the players we have, I think we have the capabilities. That’s what I looked for in the summer to make sure we have adaptability in the squad to make sure others can play.
“Jack Armer has played right back, Joe Riley can play right back, Jon Mellish can play centre back, Nick can play left back-centre-half, Aaron can play centre back / right back. Brennan Dickenson could play full back.
“There’s loads of permutations. Then there’s George Tanner. I don’t think we’d be looking to bring a player in unless something else happens because I’m really pleased with George’s progress, he’s not too far away.”
“We probably could do with some more, but if you keep recruiting you’re going to have a lot of players not playing when everybody’s fit and available,” he concluded. “You have to make sure this great squad we’ve developed, with their attitude and energy, that we look after that nucleus and make sure everybody has an opportunity to play.”
