Mike Williamson has decided against bringing his Carlisle United players in for training on Christmas Day.

Instead the Blues boss will allow his players the day with their families – and trust them to go about the day properly.

United’s head coach says the squad will have some fitness work to carry out on December 25 – the day before their huge home clash with fellow strugglers Morecambe.

Otherwise, though, he feels all the necessary preparation for the Boxing Day showdown can be completed in advance, so that players can enjoy some family time on Wednesday.

“They’ll definitely have a session to do and they'll have to show evidence of it to make sure that they're ready,” Williamson told the News & Star.

“But I feel like a bit of downtime, time with the family, is really important.

“We'll get all the preparation done on Monday and Tuesday and then we can look forward to Boxing Day.”

United boss Mike Williamson (Image: Richard Parkes)

Preparations for the bottom-two clash at Brunton Park will see Williamson monitoring the fitness of a number of players, after the disrupted build-up to the Port Vale clash on Saturday.

Three players missed the trip with illness while others played despite suffering the effects of sickness.

There are also injury issues to be resolved as Carlisle count down to a huge game in their survival bid.

Kadeem Harris, Callum Guy and Ben Williams were absent on Saturday with illness, and on their chances of being fit for Morecambe, Williamson said: “I don't know – that's not my background; chest infections and viral issues.

“I'm hopeful, yes. I'm hoping they've had the weekend off and time to recover, but we'll just have to assess and see how it goes.”

Another issue to assess is Georgie Kelly’s fitness, after the striker felt some discomfort in his calf during Saturday’s warm-up.

That, said Williamson, led the Blues not to involve the substitute in the game as a “precaution”.

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