With Carlisle boss Keith Millen having confirmed on Tuesday night that both Jack Armer and Joe Riley were due back in training imminently, he spoke today about another positive step forward for the pair as they joined in with part of the Thursday afternoon session.
“They were with us for part of today and they were ok afterwards, so we’ll have to assess them tomorrow,” he said. “Hopefully there’s no recurrence or any problems. They were both good, so we’ll see.
“I normally like to name the team on a Friday, I like to work with them and do the set-pieces, but I’ll have to wait and see how those two are before we do that.
“If I feel another 24 hours would give them a chance, I would look at that, but I never name a team on the day of the game. I much prefer to get the preparation in place.
“If I feel they’re going to be fit and they’re ready to start, even if I’m a bit careful with them tomorrow, at least it gives them another day.
“They’re both more contact injuries rather than muscle strains. What you don’t want to do is put them in training, someone kicks them again and it all flares up. Hopefully another 24 hours, they should be a lot better.”
And on whether or not the injury list has grown, he commented: “There’s a couple we’re being careful with, but nothing major.
“It’ll be good to have a couple more options in the squad because we were a bit bare on Tuesday. If Jack and Joe are available it obviously adds the strength in the squad, and we want that competition for places.”
