Keith Millen praised fit-again Lewis Alessandra for his instant impact on his return for Carlisle United.

The striker came back from a two-month injury lay-off to head the Blues' late leveller against Crawley Town.

Millen highlighted experienced Alessandra’s movement in his goalscoring cameo.

And he said the 32-year-old sub is looking forward to playing a further part in the Blues’ improvement now he is back from a foot injury.

“It was a great header and it comes from him being on the move in the box,” Millen said.

“He sprinted towards the ball and that’s so difficult to defend against when you’re on the move.

“We talk about that with our front men because we’ve got to be more active rather than just standing there.

“As a defender it’s a lot easier to defend against strikers who don’t move, so it’s extremely important that we have that.”

Alessandra had not figured for United since the November 13 0-0 draw with Barrow.

Millen added: “It’s great for Lewi. We have to get him fitter [but] it’s good to have him back.

“I’ve spoken to Lewi about getting himself fit and available and he’s excited to be playing in the way we’re playing. He thinks it suits his game.

“We’re playing two front men and he prefers that, and he’s a good pro who works hard. He adds to my options.”

Millen said Alessandra had been added to the squad at a time teenage striker Sam Fishburn had a “slight knock”.

“Maybe the workload has caught up with him a little bit so it was right to rest him,” Millen said of Fishburn.

United’s boss says he will assess the freshness of his squad ahead of Tuesday’ home clash with Hartlepool United.

“Zach Clough is medically fit and back in training, so we do have competition for places,” he added.

“It’s a busy week and my job to look at whether I need to freshen it up for Tuesday. Are we a little bit tired in certain areas? But at least I’ve got some options.”

Millen also says United are carefully managing Omari Patrick’s return to first-team football since he rejoined the Blues from Burton Albion.

The attacker came off the bench against Crawley for his second sub outing since returning to Brunton Park.

“We’ve had to be a little bit careful with [Omari] because, [when] he came to us, he hadn’t trained for probably ten days.

“He’s had Covid, and sometimes we’re finding players say they feel ok, but you get a little leftover of the illness, so I’ve tried to protect him a little bit.

“But we know how dangerous and effective he can be. He’ll be better for the minutes he had [on Saturday].”