Mark Hughes believes new signing Matt Dennis can give Carlisle United some of the attacking “presence” they need.

But the head coach warned that the striker is not yet at the levels of match fitness to make maximum impact for the Blues.

United drafted in 22-year-old former MK Dons attacker Dennis this week on a short-term deal.

The free agent, who had been training with the Blues, made his debut as a substitute in the 1-0 defeat at Newport County.

Hughes has been seeking extra “physicality” in attack and hopes Dennis can offer some of that as he works on his match fitness.

“We saw it in brief glimpses [at Newport],” said Hughes of the new arrival.

“He's way off match fitness in terms of being able to start and finish games, but he can come on in the games that we have in the immediate future and just have an impact for us.

“He's got good presence, he understands the game and what's required. I think he'll do okay but we've just got to get him up to speed quickly.”

Dennis linked up with United having departed MK Dons in January.

Dennis came off the bench in the closing stages at Rodney Parade, having signed a short-term deal for the rest of the campaign (Image: Richard Parkes)

He has previously been with Arsenal’s academy, and Norwich City, while he spent time this season on loan in the National League with Rochdale.

Dennis was training with Carlisle’s squad prior to Hughes’ appointment last Thursday and the new boss said: “He came in when we saw him for the first time for a couple of days, and I liked what I saw.

“We had a window of opportunity in terms of how many spaces we had in the squad.”

Hughes also revealed Carlisle are trying to arrange some reserve friendlies in order to get players such as Dennis up to speed.

That, he suggested, would also benefit players on the comeback trail from illness and injury, such as Callum Guy.

“We're looking to try and get some bounce games organised if we can, just for the lads that need extra minutes,” said Hughes.

“A lot of them have come into the club and haven't had a lot of game time prior to joining us, so a lot of them have been playing catch-up, and towards the end of the game sometimes that can catch up [with them].”

On players such as Guy and Archie Davies, who have been pictured on the training pitch by the club this week, Hughes said he was hopeful they will be back in the mix soon.

“Yes, they’re training,” he added.

“We left a number behind [from the Newport trip] just to get some more fitness work.

“Like I said, we're trying to get bounce games to just to give them game time against opposition, and we'll try and do that next week because we've got a free week – so that will help us and hopefully push a few of the guys on fitness wise.”

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