Carlisle United manager, Paul Simpson, has stated that he may not be able to field a full bench this weekend in an interview on the club’s official website.
The Cumbrian side will be making the long travel down to London this Saturday to face fellow League One side Leyton Orient, and the task at hand could be even tougher due to multiple absences in the squad.
Bench sizes do slightly vary between the EFL and the FA Cup, the former allowing seven substitutes, whilst the latter allowing a maximum of nine players on the sideline. Those two extra spots may not necessarily prove pivotal in the match, but Simpson does currently find himself in a position where he may not be able to utilise the extra allowance.
The Blues will be without at least two regular starters in Jack Armer and Alfie McCalmont who are both suspended following red cards in last weekend’s 1-0 loss to Cambridge United. Rather than dwelling on those losses, Simpson is instead looking for players to step-up, in this case young defender Jack Robinson.
Speaking ahead of the clash, Simpson suggested Robinson as a certain starter.
“I can sit here now and say Jack Robinson will be playing, unless anything happens between now and Saturday afternoon.
“He absolutely deserves his opportunity, he’s earned it, and it’s up to Jack to show what he’s all about.”
Not having McCalmont in the midfield could significantly hurt the Blues’ creative potential, with fellow attacking midfielder Jordan Gibson also possibly not available.
A decision to whether Gibson will travel or not looks likely to be made on Friday, with Simpson attributing that to the birth of the 25-year-old’s first child earlier in the week.
The manager does however expect both club captain Paul Huntington and midfielder Dylan McGeouch to be fit enough for the bench on Saturday after respective fights with injuries. However even with the return of the pair, the bench may still have some vacant space, with Simpson stating:
“I’m not going to be bringing any out of the youth team because that would send a false message if I did. We probably won’t have a full bench to choose from, but we’ll hopefully be able to pick the right side and have good replacements to come on and help when needed.”
It seems that defender Fin Back, who suffered a dead leg in the loss to Cambridge is very much touch-and-go for the cup tie and he could be another name on the injury list which includes Josh Kayode, Jack Ellis and Taylor Charters. In his usual frank way, Simpson doesn’t seem too worried about the bench situation insisting that, “The bench will select itself because of numbers available, and all of them have to go and perform.”
Carlisle fans will be hoping for a result against their fellow League One side, which could potentially kickstart a turnaround in their league form.
Writer’s View
Much like Simpson, I wouldn’t be losing too much sleep over the bench situation with nine spots potentially complicating matters. That being said, questions can be raised about Carlisle’s squad depth and although this is an exceptional circumstance with the amount of players out currently, it is an issue which should be prioritised in January. Players will be expected to step-up in this instance and prove to the manager that they can fight for a spot in a full-strength starting eleven.
