Keith Millen says he has been assured by Carlisle United directors that he does not need to sell players in the January transfer window.

The manager says the only priority next month will be to strengthen United’s squad in a bid to climb away from the wrong end of League Two.

There were reports this week of fresh interest from Wrexham in captain Callum Guy, after the National League club had pursued the midfielder last summer.

Football League World reported that the big-spending Welsh side could come in again for Guy, who is under contract until the summer of 2023.

Millen, though, said he has not been informed of any approaches for any of his squad.

He said: “I’m not aware – I’ve not had any phonecalls or any interest.

“And I’m sure [from] my conversations with the board that we’re looking to enhance and make the squad stronger.

“I’m under no pressure to sell anybody for money.

“I would never stand in a player’s way of progressing their careers. It would have to be a very good financial deal for the club.

“The position we’re in, we’re not looking to weaken ourselves, we’re looking to strengthen.

“I don’t see us losing any of our, if you like, top or better players, unless the deal is seen [to be] right. But I don’t envisage that.”

United sold two key players earlier in the year with Aaron Hayden joining Wrexham on the eve of the new season, and George Tanner moving to Bristol City before the August transfer deadline.

Carlisle’s predicament in third bottom position in the EFL – and with the worst goalscoring record in their division – makes the need for additions a major priority.

Speaking about plans for the transfer window, Millen added: “I’ve had a lot of communication about players for January.

“When you talk about spinning plates, there’s a lot of that going on across football clubs at the moment.

“In an ideal world I would love to get some business done in that first week.

“Our game against Hartlepool [on January 8] will be cancelled now because they’re in the third round of the FA Cup, so that gives us a free weekend to maybe try and do some business.

“It would be great to get some players in during that period, but I won’t rush into anything that I don’t think will improve us.

“We’ve got our targets and we’ve been working really hard. The board have been good in terms of backing me; they understand what we need to do.

“We’ll obviously try and get deals done as early as possible if they’re the right ones.”