Carlisle United latest team news for Cheltenham Town clash

The AFC Bournemouth loanee made his comeback from a knee injury with an outing for his parent club’s development squad on Thursday night.

But it is too soon for 19-year-old Adu-Adjei to be involved for the Blues in their League Two clash with Cheltenham Town on Saturday.

Head coach Mike Williamson today confirmed Adu-Adjei would return to Carlisle in three days’ time.

Asked if there had been any possibility of him coming back for Saturday, given United’s urgent need for goals and points, Williamson told the News & Star: “There’s certainly temptation from our part, but we've just got to be sensible.

“We're obviously governed by his parent club, who make the decisions on this, and we've got to respect the injury as well, and respect him as a lad.

“We wouldn't want to put him at any risk – I'd by far prefer to take a little extra time, a couple of more days, rather than throw him in when he's still fatigued.”

Adu-Adjei has been out since early September but said after Thursday’s half-hour cameo for the Cherries against Swansea City that he “couldn’t wait” to be back with the Blues.

Williamson is keen to work with the young striker and added: “I'm very excited. He's certainly somebody who we know how strong and powerful he is, and how good and influential he is.

“We're looking forward to working with him, and I think it'll give the lads a boost when he comes back.

“I know Dom [Sadi, Adu-Adhei’s fellow Bournemouth loanee] is looking forward to having his mate back, so hopefully that'll give him a bit of a boost as well. As a whole football club, we're very excited to get him back.”

United are weighing up a couple of fitness issues ahead of the Cheltenham clash.

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Sam Lavelle is keen to play despite suffering a broken nose in Tuesday’s defeat at Walsall which saw him spend seven hours in A&E.

“We’ve got to assess him this morning,” Williamson said.

“He didn’t want to come off [at Walsall], which is testament to him as a character.

“He broke his nose, it was evident, and he's hungry to play tomorrow, so we've just got to make sure to speak to Sophie [Birnie, United’s head physio], we'll see how it goes in training, and then we'll make a late call.”

Charlie Wyke was also expected back in training today after the illness which Williamson said ruled the striker out of the Walsall game.

“He's feeling better, and again, it's just another assessment to see how it goes in training, and then make a judgement,” said the Blues boss.

Williamson said some of United’s other injured players could be back in the reckoning in the next couple of weeks, with Dylan McGeouch and Jordan Jones expected to be the next players to return.

“There are a couple that are much closer [than the others],” he said. “Dylan and JJ [Jones] are working hard.”

Ben Williams remains out for longer while Georgie Kelly has suffered some “minor setbacks” along his own latest injury comeback.

Georgie Kelly (Image: Ben Holmes)

“Georgie's a bit more of a complicated one,” said Williamson. “There's been a few niggles, a few little minor setbacks, I would say.

“Nothing too big, but at the minute he's just going through the process and making sure he's ticking every box off at a time.”

Williamson, meanwhile, said fit-again Ethan Robson is closer to consideration for his first start after a pair of substitute appearances.

The midfielder has come off the bench against Harrogate Town and Walsall.

“We really want him back in as much as possible,” said the Blues head coach.

“We know how good he is, and how much he can influence the team.

“Of course, we've got to be careful with him, but I think at the minute now, he's probably in contention.”