Jack Ellis has been ruled out of action this weekend as Carlisle United continue to assess his injury.

The young defender had to sit out the Blues’ last two games and won’t be involved at Portsmouth this weekend.

A groin/hip issue has been giving the 19-year-old discomfort and manager Paul Simpson said the outlook is not totally clear.

“We don’t think it’s a long one. We thought it was a seven to ten day [injury], but he’s still not been able to get back out on the grass which is a bit disappointing,” said the Carlisle boss.

“It was nothing really – he played in the [EFL Trophy] game against Nottingham Forest [U21s] and he never complained of anything.

“When I did my press last Thursday before the Leyton Orient game I wasn’t aware that it was an issue, because he’d done the work on the Thursday morning.

“He then complained later that night of feeling some soreness in his groin. He was examined the next day and ruled out for the weekend, and he’s still not really settled down enough for him to join in training.

“It’s worse than we expected it to be, but we still think that hopefully next week he should be able to start training again.”

Simpson reported no other new injury concerns for the Pompey trip, with defender Corey Whelan available despite being substituted late in Tuesday’s Central League Cup reserve victory over Blackpool.

“Corey just twisted his ankle – he’s fine,” said Simpson.

“From watching the game back there was a collision on the edge of the 18-yard box, and another one where he made a block at the near post where he jarred his ankle, but he’s been able to train today so he’s fine.”

Midfielder Dylan McGeouch is back in full training after a calf problem but Simpson added: “He hasn’t had any match minutes, so we’re just going to have to manage him right.

“Hopefully over the next few weeks we’ll start to get other players coming back into it that will add to the group.”

News and Star: Paul HuntingtonPaul Huntington (Image: Richard Parkes)

Paul Huntington’s calf injury keeps him on the sidelines, Simpson adding of the captain: “He tried to do some work towards the end of last week and over the weekend but he wasn’t able to complete it because he was still feeling it.

“Calf injuries are strange because you get to a point where you aren’t feeling any pain in it and you feel as though you’re ready to go, but the minute you start to build-up that’s when it comes back again.

“He had that last week so we’ve taken him off his feet again for a few days, hopefully by the end of the month he should be right.”

Taylor Charters, out with a hamstring injury, has been doing some running but is likely to be out until late November, with Joshua Kayode expected back from his shoulder injury in December.