Latest injury and suspension issues to hit Carlisle United
Josh Vela is the latest Carlisle United player to face suspension – as well as a fresh injury problem.
The midfielder’s return to the starting XI against Chesterfield lasted 45 minutes as he was replaced at half-time.
And head coach Mike Williamson said Vela had picked up a calf problem during the game – as well as a fifth booking, which means a one-match ban.
“Vels might have had an issue,” said the Blues boss after the game. “He said he was feeling his calf and that’s the reason he came off.”
The former Bolton Wanderers and Fleetwood Town man will now be assessed, but either way he will be ruled out of the trip to Port Vale.
That’s because the 30-year-old’s first-half yellow card for a foul took him to five bookings, in the last game before the cut-off for such suspensions.
Vela’s caution followed bookings against Barrow, Grimsby Town, Notts County and AFC Wimbledon. Players are suspended for one game if they collect five bookings before the 20th game of the league campaign – Saturday was Carlisle’s 19th league fixture.
He is the latest in a series of United players to serve similar such bans recently, after Jon Mellish, Ben Barclay and Harrison Neal. Jordan Jones was the other player on four bookings going into Saturday's game but his avoidance of a yellow card means he is no longer at risk of a ban.
Williamson, meanwhile, said he hopes Kadeem Harris will soon be back in training after a hip injury saw him miss out against Chesterfield.
“He’s had a little bit of a hip flexor tweak,” said the head coach.
“Hopefully he should be training at some point this week with a possibility of being fit for [next] weekend.”
Thomas Randall, left, was Gabe Breeze's understudy for the Chesterfield game (Image: Ben Holmes)
Another absentee from the squad was goalkeeper Harry Lewis, who has suffered a broken finger.
“He just felt it in training, he came off [having] trained through it, got an X-ray, and it's broken,” said Williamson.
“So at the minute, it's just a couple of weeks of rest. And then we'll see how that heals.”
United promoted youth team keeper Thomas Randall, 17, to the bench in Lewis’s place.
Williamson went on to confirm that senior third-choice keeper Jude Smith is also on the sidelines, with a back problem.
“He’s been frustrated – he's had to come out of training for the last month,” said United’s head coach.
“So there’s a significant issue.
“But he was on the grass the other day, building his load back up.
“It's a bit of a difficult one [in terms of timescale]. The medical guys are just going to keep working with him, loading him, and hopefully [he’ll be fit] before the new year.”
On teenager Randall’s first involvement with the senior matchday squad, Williamson said: “He’s been first class.
“He’s been around the first team training and been a part of it, and this is the first opportunity for him to come in[to the matchday 18]. And he's been great.”
