Paul Simpson said he will keep an open mind about the free agent market during Joshua Kayode’s long lay-off.

The Carlisle United loan striker is out until December after undergoing shoulder surgery.

Rotherham frontman Kayode was intended to be a key part of United’s attack but now misses a significant chunk of the campaign.

Simpson has not ruled out moving for an unattached striker to plug the gap but also warned that finding the ideal player in that market is easier said than done.

“If the right one came available we would certainly look at it,” said the Blues manager.

“The issue you have around it is if they’re free agents, chances are they’ve not been in doing football training.

News and Star: Paul Simpson says he will remain open-minded about the free agent marketPaul Simpson says he will remain open-minded about the free agent market (Image: Richard Parkes)

“Everybody tells us when we speak to players that they’re working one to one with personal trainers, then you get them in the building and they’re a long way off where we expect them to be.

“There’s a fine line to get the right ones who can come in and have an effect immediately.

“We’ll keep looking and enquiring about things. If anything is [suitable] we’ll try and do it.”

Kayode underwent successful surgery on Tuesday and is back at his parent club for the early stages of his rehabilitation.

Simpson said mid to late December is the expected timescale for the 23-year-old’s return to availability.

United, meanwhile, will continue assessing candidates for their strength and conditioning coach position next week.

Shortlisted applicants will be at the club at different stages in the week.

"We’re going to the second stage of interviews where they’re going to come in and do some sort of practical work next week with us," said United's manager.

"We’ve got that spread over the whole week. I think there’s three coming in - they [made] some really good applications and they came across positively in the first stage. So we’ll see what next week brings."

One situation unchanged, meanwhile, concerns contract talks with star midfielder Owen Moxon.

"There's been no movement," said Simpson. "I speak to Mox all the time. We’re just carrying on doing what we’re doing.

"I thought Owen was a little bit better last weekend, except his set plays, which we’ve spoken about [on Thursday] morning. But we just carry on.

"There’s not a lot more we can do [regarding the contract] at this moment. We just have to keep banging our heads and trying to keep moving forward."