Carlisle United are continuing to play the waiting game on Kadeem Harris’s international clearance.

The Blues are still to receive confirmation that the former Cardiff City and Sheffield Wednesday man can play for the club.

United have agreed a deal with 31-year-old free agent Harris and hope to involve him in the squad for the first time at Salford City this weekend.

But that depends on the necessary paperwork arriving in time.

“We’re just keeping our fingers crossed,” said head coach Mike Williamson.

“He's been training this week, he's trained really well and we've lodged the appeal with FIFA, so we're just waiting.”

Williamson said he was not aware of any particular hold-ups in the situation and said United simply had to be patient for the green light.

The need for international clearance comes after Harris’s recent playing spell in Turkey, latterly with Sanliurfaspor.

“It's just one of those things where you don't really know how long it's going to take, so we're just hoping that it comes through before the weekend,” he added.

Williamson confirmed he planned to include Harris in the squad for Saturday’s televised game at the Peninsula Stadium, should all go to plan.

“He’ll be available for selection and he'll definitely be in the squad [if the clearance comes through],” said the Blues boss.

“In terms of starting, probably not quite yet, but we're yet to give him that exposure.

“Obviously we've seen him in training and he's been building up nicely, which is good, but we want to see it over a prolonged period.”

Harris, who Williamson has known since their respective playing spells at Wycombe Wanderers, has spent recent weeks training with the Cumbrians.

He is poised to become the second signing under Williamson following the earlier arrival of fellow free agent Tyler Burey.

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