Update on three Carlisle United absentees at Oxford United

Moxon was sidelined with illness, McGeouch had a hamstring injury while Maguire was dealing with a family matter.

The trio did not travel with the squad to the Kassam Stadium where the Blues lost 1-0 in their first League One away game.

Simpson expressed his sympathy with striker Maguire for the personal situation that ruled him out of action.

“He’s got a family issue back at home. He was [due to travel] with us, but he called me late afternoon on Friday to say he’d had a difficult family issue that he’s had to stay behind for," Carlisle's manager said.

“He then spoke to me later in the night and said he was going to get the train first thing in the morning and get into Oxford for about 11am.

“Then about an hour later he called again and said, ‘Something’s taken another bit of a turn and I’m going to have to stay’.

“I hope everything’s ok with him because family is definitely more important than football. I hope it’s ok.

“With a bit of luck we may have him with us again on Monday ready for Tuesday night [against Wigan Athletic].”

Simpson also hopes star midfielder Moxon can return against Wigan after illness cost him the chance to face Oxford.

The 25-year-old has recovered from a dead leg but his attempt to return to action was dashed.

“He trained on Friday morning, then had a bit of lunch and started being sick again in the afternoon,” Simpson said. “So we kept him out of it.”

United manager Paul Simpson (Image: Richard Parkes)

Asked if Moxon would be doubtful for Tuesday, United’s boss said: “I don’t think so. I think he’s a lot better today from what Chris [Brunskill, United’s physio] has told me.

“He’s got another two or three days before the game. With him not feeling right yesterday we just said, ‘Stay at home and you’ve got a couple of days to get yourself back eating again and get a bit more energy into you’, and hopefully he’ll be ok for Tuesday.

“We have to be right. You see the shift the players have put in today…it takes maximum effort from everybody.

“Somebody who’s not really in the best state, you can’t take chances with that. Hopefully he’ll be ok for Tuesday.”

Midfielder McGeouch, meanwhile, picked up an injury in United’s Carabao Cup defeat to Harrogate Town on Tuesday, where he was substituted at half-time.

“We’re waiting to see on Dylan,” said Simpson.

“He took a corner and felt a twinge in his hamstring.

“The symptoms are very good [from] testing on Friday, and we’re going to see how he is over the weekend; he may come back in to do some work on Tuesday, he might train with the rest of the group.

“We’ll wait and see on that.

“Unfortunately Dylan missed quite a chunk of pre-season, like Dan Butterworth did. We’ve just got to tread really carefully and make sure we don’t overwork them, push them too hard and give them a big spike that you get out of a matchday, and hope he gets himself right as soon as possible.”