Carlisle United: Owen Moxon fitness boost and contract talks

The midfielder is poised to make his comeback against Oxford United after a dead leg kept him out of last Saturday’s defeat at Exeter City.

And the Denton Holme favourite’s return comes after fresh discussions aimed at keeping Moxon at Brunton Park beyond this season.

Talks have been at a stalemate for months but boss Paul Simpson said he had met Moxon’s agent – the ex-Carlisle manager Graham Kavanagh – recently.

Simpson said it was a “positive” meeting but the ball remains in 25-year-old Moxon’s court.

United have long had a contract on the table for Moxon, whose current deal runs out in the summer.

• Carlisle United boss gives update on latest transfer aims

“We’re tweaking it a little bit to try and come to an agreement,” said Simpson.

“It's all part of negotiations. We had a really positive meeting. And we've left it with them.

“So I hope that I would hear something very soon.

“But the truth of it is, the ball is in Owen’s court because the previous owners made it quite clear with me that we wanted him to stay, and the new ownership family all made it quite clear too.

“And I'm still of the view that I want him to stay. We've just got to try and get an agreement from all parties now. So we're continuing to work.

“I’ve got absolutely no problem with Owen Moxon at all. He's continuing to train when he’s fit and doing his things properly.

“We want him here. We want him here for the long term. And hopefully, we'll be able to come to that agreement at some point.”

In the meantime, Simpson is glad to have the ex-Annan Athletic star available again although Ben Barclay (knee) is set to miss another game.

“As I sit here speaking today, Owen Moxon will be available for Saturday,” said Simpson, speaking to the News & Star at his weekly press conference on Thursday.

“He's trained a couple of days this week. So he's okay.

“Ben Barclay still hasn't trained. He's still got some discomfort in the knee from this issue that he's getting.

Ben Barclay, left, is not yet ready to return (Image: Ben Holmes)

“The good thing was that it showed up clear on the scan, that there was no ligament or any cartilage damage.

“But there's something which is just giving him an inner irritation. The injection that he had has settled it down, but there's still some discomfort there.

• Blues boss on new keeper signing - and new deal for Breeze

“So I don't think he'll be fit for Saturday. And we'll just wait and see whether it's fit for Tuesday [at Barnsley].”

Simpson, meanwhile, hopes striker Joshua Kayode is close to a return.

The loan frontman has been out with a shoulder injury sustained in the early stages of his latest Blues spell.

Joshua Kayode (Image: Ben Holmes)

United’s manager recently said the Rotherham United loanee recently suffered a setback in his return.

Giving the latest position, Simpson said: “I think this weekend's too early because he hasn't been able to get the discomfort settled down.

“So he’s still not able to do full training. I would hope that it's next week, but it's just been one of those things where because, when you’ve been out for a while, over time you start to build up the work then generally there is a little bit of a hiccup along the way.

“He was just really unfortunate that the hiccup came in a really light session the day before he was expected to join the squad again. So that was that was a disappointment.

“It was something that we actually expected at some point. But it was just so late in the day to get it. That was a bit of a sickener.

“So we will continue to work with him. And we do hope that he'll be back very, very soon.”