Paul Simpson is optimistic Owen Moxon will be fit to return for Carlisle United this weekend.

The midfielder was ruled out of last night’s Carabao Cup defeat at Harrogate Town with a dead leg.

Manager Simpson said Denton Holme star Moxon declared himself unavailable for the first round tie because of the problem.

He was substituted in the second half of Saturday’s League One opener against Fleetwood Town because of his discomfort.

United now hope the 25-year-old can return in United’s first away league game at Oxford United on Saturday.

“It was a dead leg, and I’m hoping he will be fit for the weekend,” said Simpson.

“We’re just going to have to wait and see.

News and Star: Owen Moxon was hurt in the Fleetwood gameOwen Moxon was hurt in the Fleetwood game (Image: Barbara Abbott)

“He tried to train [on Monday] morning but he wasn’t right.

“We had to leave him back there, but I’d hope within a couple of days…it was a dead leg and he carried on for the majority of the game, so I would like to think it will settle down.”

Simpson was also without Paul Huntington and Fin Back at Harrogate.

He said it was a case of managing veteran defender Huntington’s workload, while back had not been included after discussions with the loan player’s parent club Nottingham Forest.

“With Hunts it was a case of protecting him because of the stage of his career – I wasn’t prepared to do Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday with him,” said Simpson.

“Forest said they didn’t want us to play Fin with him still coming back [from a hamstring injury he suffered in the spring].

News and Star: Fin Back was another player not involved at HarrogateFin Back was another player not involved at Harrogate (Image: Ben Holmes)

“I had to make those changes [to the team] but I wanted to try and keep it consistent because I wanted to win this game, I wanted to be in the second round of the cup.”

Simpson also said the make-up of his quadruple half-time change at Harrogate was partly influenced by a couple of those players reporting injury “niggles”.

“I was making four changes anyway, [but] I had to just adjust it a little bit because of those niggles,” he said.

“We’ll assess [them] tomorrow and see where we go from there. I hope they’re not [a problem] but we have to wait and see.”