Paul Simpson says there was no fall-out with Dan Butterworth – and that the attacker had simply not impressed enough to hold down a regular place.

Butterworth, after completing a deadline-day move to Swindon Town, said things “behind closed doors” were why his time at Carlisle United did not work out.

Manager Simpson said he had not been aware of those comments, but stressed that the only reason 24-year-old Butterworth had not played more often was because of how he performed in training and games.

“There's been no arguments with any of the staff, and I think everybody has tried to help Dan, and has tried to advise him as to what he needs to do differently,” Simpson told the News & Star.

“Unfortunately, it hasn't been anything different.

“I don't know what he means by ‘behind closed doors’ because the reason why Dan didn't play for us wasn't behind closed doors, it was actually on the training pitch or on the main pitch. That was the reason – so that was with the doors wide open.

“I don't want to get into a war of words. It's football. He moves on, we wish him all the best.

“I'm quite sure that he'll be desperate to perform because we could all see that there's something there, but it's one thing having it in there, it's actually the player getting it out as well that's the biggest challenge.

“A coach or manager can encourage it out of a player, but it has to come from themselves.

“They have to have that desire to do it, it's as simple as that, and hopefully the penny will drop with Dan and there'll be a footballer there.”

Butterworth made only ten league starts for Carlisle after being signed by Simpson in the summer of 2023.

He could now face the Cumbrians when United face Swindon at the County Ground on September 21.

Simpson said the move to Swindon was “all done through [Butterworth’s] agent" rather than the Robins making initial contact themselves.

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United’s manager added: “Butts came to me two weeks ago and said he wasn't happy with his game time, and he wasn't happy because of it all, and I said, ‘Well, I'm not going to keep somebody who's unhappy. You need to get something sorted for yourself’.

“Then I found out yesterday that this opportunity at Swindon was there for him. So, we wish him well.”

Simpson said he needs his squad to be “pulling in the right direction” and would not impede a player “who doesn’t want to be here”.

He added: “There's been numerous conversations between me and probably every other member of staff with Dan about what he needed to do to get in the team and to stay in the team, and unfortunately it hasn't been there.

“There has been flashes, we've seen little glimpses of it, but certainly not enough. It didn’t work out how we all wanted, he moves on and we wish him well.”