Carlisle United duo on suspension tightrope in Charlton trip

Both Josh Vela and Jon Mellish are on the brink of suspension and a booking at The Valley would see them banned.

Vela is on 14 yellow cards in the league this season and another for the midfielder at any point between now and the end of the campaign would see him suspended for three matches.

And defender Mellish is one booking away from ten yellow cards in the league, though he will avoid a two-match ban if he evades a booking in the next two games, with the cut-off for such suspensions being the 37-game mark.

The risk of losing either player for a spell would add further difficulty to United’s bid to salvage some form before what looks like the inevitability of relegation to League Two.

Simpson said Vela being on the brink of a ban was a reason the January signing was substituted in the second half of last weekend’s 3-1 defeat to Reading.

“He’s on 14 yellow cards and it was one of those where I couldn’t take any chances of him getting a 15th and getting three games,” said the United boss.

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Most of Vela’s bookings this season came for former club Fleetwood Town – 12 in the league and one in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy, where cards do not count in the league totting-up process. He has been booked twice with Carlisle.

Mellish has ten bookings to his name but one of those was also in the Trophy. He and Vela are the only United players at risk of such a suspension in the remainder of the season.

Both are likely starters for United at The Valley as Carlisle try to restore some positivity after their latest deflating defeat.

The Reading setback left them 15 points from safety with 11 games to go, with bookmakers now pricing the Blues 1/1,000 to go down.

Carlisle's last visit to Charlton was a 2-0 defeat in the FA Cup in 2011. They lost 4-0 on their last league visit the same season (Image: Barbara Abbott)

They take on Nathan Jones’ Addicks side in a first United visit to The Valley since 2011.

Carlisle’s loss to Reading was their ninth in ten games and some supporters left as early as the 57th minute following the visitors’ third goal.

Manager Paul Simpson accepts the current situation is a hard one for fans but also said the majority are sticking with his side – and his team are continuing to fight.

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“I think it is tough for supporters, it’s tough for everybody involved with the football club,” said Simpson.

“The one thing I will say is that the majority of the supporters stayed with it [last weekend]. And they saw the players trying to have a go.

“They kept going, showed a desire to do that. So that's a positive that we can take.

“We are in a tricky situation. They have to be professional and stay professional. I was pleased with the way they finished the game and kept sticking at it.

“We’ve just got to keep working to try and get positive results.”