Carlisle United defender set to be out for most of season

The Carlisle United wing-back is awaiting a date to go under the knife.

There had been a possibility that summer signing Davies could have taken a route to recovery which did not involve an operation.

But head coach Mike Williamson today confirmed that the ex-Dundalk man will be sidelined for months.

“It’s been a long, hard, thought-about situation,” said the United boss.

“But I think he’s now electing for surgery, so that will probably be the best part of the season.”

Davies will become the latest long-term injury absentee in a week when striker Charlie Wyke was ruled out for the rest of the campaign with a serious ankle injury.

In terms of Saturday’s FA Cup first round tie against Wigan Athletic, Williamson said loan striker Daniel Adu-Adjei is fully fit and available after his return from injury and parent club AFC Bournemouth.

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The Blues boss said they would continue to manage the young frontman’s training load so soon into his return, with certain "restrictions" on how much the 19-year-old could undertake at the moment.

“He’s available to start, which is good,” Williamson said.

“But, in terms of completing a consistent 90 minutes, I think he'll probably be a way off that.

United are managing Adu-Adjei's training load after his return from injury but the striker could feature against Wigan this weekend (Image: Ben Holmes)

“It’s really positive that he's back. He's been in the building this week, he's showed a real enthusiasm and he's happy to be back.

“We're really pleased and we've just got to manage it and see how he feels.”

Williamson said he expected all United’s loan players to be available for the cup, including Adu-Adjei, Dominic Sadi and Harrison Biggins.

Of those still sidelined, Ben Williams and Dylan McGeouch appear the closest to returning.

“Ben and Dylan have been dipping in and out of training, which is really encouraging,” said Williamson.

“JJ [Jordan Jones] is working hard. I think he's a little bit behind the two that we mentioned, but the work is ongoing and hopefully we can get them all back as fast as we can.”

On striker Georgie Kelly, the United boss said: “He's joined in passing drills, but in terms of where he's at and when the availability [will be], I wouldn't want to put a timescale on it, because it's been a tough one and a delicate one.

“But he's working his absolute socks off.”

Williamson, meanwhile, has expressed his support to Wyke as the striker faces a long road back from a fractured and dislocated ankle.

Wyke has revealed in an interview with Wigan Today that Williamson spent eight hours in hospital with him after the injury which the frontman suffered against Cheltenham Town last weekend.

Charlie Wyke is out for the season (Image: Ben Holmes)

On how Wyke is feeling right now, the Blues boss said: “It’s very soon after and you can't really put a word on how devastating it is for him, for the football club, for his team-mates.

“At the minute, it's really hard. I don't think there are any words of consolation that can make a difference because he's just got to go through it and experience it.

“But what we do know is how tough he is and how focused he will be to get back.”

Wyke suffered the serious injury in a challenge from Cheltenham Town midfielder Luke Young.

Williamson, though, preferred not to dwell on the nature of the tackle that has put the 31-year-old out until next season.

He said: “I don't think there was any malice in it to hurt Charlie.

“I think the nature of it is a hard tackle, potentially misjudged, if we were to go back [and look at it].

“But, unfortunately, that's the nature of football and we've come off on the unfortunate and raw end of it.

“But I wouldn't want to focus on that – we just want to move forward with what we've got and support Charlie the very, very best we possibly can.”

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