CARLISLE United manager Paul Simpson has highlighted the importance of getting the 'best' out of his set Blues squad after a summer transfer window filled with 'rumours'.

The Blues concluded their business on Deadline Day with the re-signing of forward Josh Kayode on a season-long loan deal from Rotherham United.

This capped off a summer of incomings, outgoings, and retention, with Carlisle's best bit of business arguably coming in the form of keeping Owen Moxon at Brunton Park.

However, speaking ahead of Carlisle's trip to Steve Evans' Stevenage, Simpson asserted that now the focus must be on getting the most out of his solidified squad.

He said: "That's what we have to do, get the best out of the group we have got.

"This is what we are working with through until January and our challenge is, and the player's challenge as well is, to get the best out of themselves.

"We can't talk about rumours and all this sort of stuff.

"This is what we have got until January unless we decide that some players can go out into the National League or wherever it might be.

"This is the group we are working with and hopefully, we are able to still be in a good position come January then we are in a position where we can keep improving because this group will keep evolving."

Simpson also detailed how Carlisle is a club that is always looking to improve, with the Blues vision being given a boost by their Wembley play-off success in May.

He said: "We are trying to improve the football club all the time, we had a massive boost getting promotion to League One in the summer.

"We have tried to get a group together and we know over time it will still need to be improved because we are still learning how to compete at this level and we will keep working to try and improve it as we go along."