Carlisle United are working on a loan signing with Paul Simpson “as confident as can be” of adding to his squad before the transfer deadline.

The Blues manager said a player is due at the club for a medical this afternoon.

Should all go well then United will complete their 12th summer signing which is likely to be their last piece of business before the summer window closes at 11pm.

Simpson said the prospective signing would be a “creative” player.

“I'm confident as can be,” he told the News & Star at a press conference today.

“Obviously [there is the medical first] but this guy's been involved in each of the games [at his parent club] this season, he’s had a full pre-season and done everything, so there's no issues around him.

“We’ve just got to make sure the medical's right because we've had players sent to us in the past where we’ve been told everything's fine and our medical team have decided it's too much of a risk.

“[But] I expect everything to be okay from what I'm being told.

“It’s a loan player – a season loan with a break clause in January if we or they decide to end it then.”

Simpson did not confirm the exact position of the likely new arrival but did add: “I'm looking for players who are going to be able to be creative.

“Whether that be in terms of assists or goals, that's what we're trying to add to it.”

United’s boss had been hoping to add a further player to his squad but another deal fell through on Thursday night.

“I thought it was done,” Simpson said. “We literally were waiting for the okay from the club.

“We'd agreed all the terms of it and then the club changed their mind about 9pm last night and there's nothing we can do about it. It's just one of those things.”

Simpson confirmed there would be no further departures from his squad after Dan Butterworth’s move to Swindon Town on a permanent deal, while any potential loan moves for some of Carlisle’s young players won’t be done today.

Such deals to non-league clubs can be done outside the EFL transfer window.

United’s boss said he is pleased with the squad he will take into the next stage of the 2024/25 season once the window has closed.

“It will give us a squad of 26, with the three goalkeepers and then we have the young boys to back that up,” he said.

“It's enough to get us through. We've just got to be patient to get the injured boys back out on the grass because I don't want to just collect bodies for the sake of it.

“They've got to be right and they've got to be able to have an impact and I think the players that we've got will make an impact.

“I'm really pleased [with the business we’ve done]. I think we've got a really good squad but what we have to do is make sure that the results reflect the level of the squad that we've got and currently it's fair to say that they're not.”