Macaulay Gillesphey earned praise from Carlisle United boss Keith Curle as the Blues edge towards returning to full strength.

Gillesphey, on loan from Newcastle United, made his comeback for the Cumbrians in their 1-1 draw against play-off rivals Stevenage, eventually being taken off late on for debutant Ben Tomlinson.

The young defender, who can play at both centre-back or left-back, had not featured since the 1-0 defeat at Cheltenham in February.

But he returned to the substitute’s bench for Friday’s 1-1 draw at Hartlepool, before replacing Shaun Brisley in the starting line-up for Monday’s League Two clash.

And Curle was pleased with the performance of the 21-year-old on his comeback appearance.

“I love Macaulay’s left foot. If I had the opportunity to sign his left foot, I would sign it,” the Blues boss said.

“He has been out for a long time. He has had one training session with us. So, to get 85 minutes out of him - excellent.

“That shows the determination we have got from within the squad that people want to be involved.

"They are not happy to just be passengers on a journey, they want to play their part, which is massive for us.”

Gillesphey returned to the side as part of a back three, alongside Michael Raynes and Gary Liddle, with Curle happy with how his players had adapted to the new system.

United’s manager said: “I think the players have bought into that. They have bought into their responsibilities out of position but, apart from that, we want to put the ball in the right areas in the box.

“That is something we are trying to adopt at the minute. When we get in the final third, we need balls and bodies inside the box with quality.”

Carlisle hope Tom Miller and Jason Kennedy could both be back to play a part in the final stages of the Blues’ play-off bid, while namesake Shaun Miller has now completed his four-match ban which means only Mike Jones will be sidelined for the rest of the season.

But a number of players, including Jabo Ibehre, captain Danny Grainger and Nicky Adams, have missed out for extended periods of time during the course of this campaign through injury.

Curle added: "There is obvious concerns because of the amount of injuries we have had this season that has played a pivotal part of the results we have been having at this stage of the season, which is something I will look at later on."