Carlisle United manager Paul Simpson has confirmed that defender Ben Barclay could be back in action this week after receiving the all-clear from a scan on his ankle.
The 27-year-old centre-back has been a squad player for the Cumbrian side this term under Simpson despite being an integral part of the team’s promotion campaign last season. However, Barclay did manage to pick up some starts in recent times.
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The former Accrington Stanley and Stockport County man played three games in a row in early-to-mid February, staying on for the full 90 minutes during defeats to Leyton Orient, Bolton Wanderers and Cambridge United.
It was during the match against the latter that Barclay sustained an injury to his ankle, causing swelling after the match which kept him out of Saturday’s loss away at Bristol Rovers. Simpson’s preferred centre-back partnership of Jon Mellish and Samuel Lavelle started together instead.
There were worries that Barclay’s injury was worse than originally feared but Simpson has revealed that the defender’s scan came back clear, hinting that he could return to the Carlisle United squad for this weekend’s clash at home against fellow relegation-threatened Reading.
Speaking to club media, the boss said:
“Ben got a whack on his ankle last weekend so he had some swelling there which meant he wasn’t fit on Saturday.
“We’ve had him scanned and there’s no damage that needs surgery or anything like that. We’re hopeful he’ll join training this week but we’ll just have to see how he goes,” he continued.
“The scan came back clear and just showed that there was some sort of previous damage there. We’re hopeful that it won’t be long. He probably won’t be ready for Tuesday, but maybe for the weekend.”
Writer’s View
Carlisle United are staring down the barrel of a highly likely relegation back down to League Two after what has been a rather dismal campaign in England’s third tier. The side have picked up merely four wins all season and are now 14 points adrift of safety.
However, Simpson will want to end the season strongly, whether this still leads to relegation or not, but doing so without a full strength squad makes this task even more difficult. As a result, the return of Barclay to bolster the backline can only be seen as a positive this late on.
Deputy Head of Writing
