Carlisle United's Kai Nugent set for return to action

The first-year pro, sidelined since pre-season with an ankle injury, is back to fitness.

And he will get an outing in a behind-closed-doors friendly game today.

It will give the 18-year-old the chance to kickstart his season after he impressed in the early weeks of summer.

An outing today – United have not revealed details of their opponents – will also help boss Paul Simpson determine the next step for Nugent, who could be a candidate for a loan move in order to gain more first-team experience.

“Kai will get minutes [today],” said manager Simpson.

“He did really well in pre-season.

“It will be good to get him back, and then we can make a decision as to what we’re going to do with him.”

Nugent suffered an ankle injury in pre-season following bright performances against Annan Athletic and Gretna 2008, the young Cumbrian scoring against the latter.

The midfielder earned a pro deal at the end of last season after impressing for the youth team, in first-team training and in a positive loan spell with Workington Reds.

Jokull Andresson is among the players who could feature today (Image: Richard Parkes)

Simpson, meanwhile, will use today’s game to give outings to other players who have not figured much in Carlisle’s first five games of the campaign.

He could hand a first Blues outing to new keeper Jokull Andresson, with the likes of Jayden Harris, Corey Whelan, Ben Barclay, Joe Garner, Jack Robinson and Dan Butterworth among those in the frame to feature.

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Simpson, though, has not confirmed whether Dylan McGeouch will play as he returns from a minor hamstring problem.

“Dylan’s probably going to train all week,” said Simpson, speaking after Saturday’s defeat to Exeter City when the summer signing was again not in the squad.

Simpson said he was undecided on whether Dylan McGeouch would be involved today (Image: Ben Holmes)

“He trained [on Saturday] with the group that went out in the morning.

“We’ll see how he feels about it. It’s a little bit early to say. He may get some minutes, it may be more a case of training all week.”

Simpson said he could not disclose information on today’s game as United’s opponents did not want details to be made public beforehand.