Paul Simpson has told those on the fringes at Carlisle United to be ready for their chance at any moment.

The Blues boss expects to have more players back in first-team contention soon.

And as he weighs up the welcome prospect of more selection decisions, the manager has underlined the need for each player to be ready.

He said the first half of Saturday’s 4-1 win at Salford City, which saw two injury-enforced substitutions in the first half, emphasised the point.

That saw Corey Whelan and Jack Ellis called into action to replace Morgan Feeney and Fin Back.

Both players contributed to an impressive away victory – and Simpson said others waiting in the wings could get their chance any time.

“I’m looking forward to having tactical decisions to make once everyone is back and available, but I don’t want players to be disappointed – I want them to stay together,” he said.

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“Credit to the lads who didn’t travel on Saturday, like Duncan Idehen, Ben Barclay and Jamie Devitt, because they’ve done their own work.

“They’re doing whatever is needed to get themselves right.

“Maybe next weekend somebody else might be called on. Sonny Hilton was with us, he was our 19th man, so he does the warm-up and gets more into his legs.

“Every member of the squad has to be the best professional they can be so that they’re challenging each other constantly.”

United are assessing the hamstring issues suffered by Feeney and Back amid this week’s build-up for the FA Cup second round trip to Walsall.

Whelan and Ellis have, though, underlined that they are ready to come back into the line-up if needed.

And Simpson says others in the squad can be relied upon.

“I’m trusting them all, they’ve all been fantastic,” he said. “I’d have trusted Tobi Sho-Silva, Mick Kelly, Jayden Harris if they were called on.

“We’re starting to get a little bit of a rosier picture in terms of those injuries. We’ve got Devitt, Barclay, Hilton desperate to get into the group, Duncan…we’re starting to get a stronger group that hopefully will be able to produce performances like we had on Saturday and get results like we have.”

Simpson said Whelan and Ellis deserve plenty of praise for the way they seized their latest chance, Whelan getting his second Blues goal during the victory and teenager Ellis putting in his latest strong showing.

“Credit to Corey, he keeps doing things right,” added Simpson.

“I’m quite sure he’s been a bit frustrated because I brought Morgan back into it, but he took it in the right way.

“I spoke to him about the reasons why, and he just gets on with his work.

“And credit to Jack Ellis, he got himself into it [at Salford] after a little bit of a slow start, and in the end he was absolutely outstanding.”