Manager James Tose will miss Carlisle City's final away game of 2016.

The Sky Blues will travel to Atherton LR this afternoon (2pm kick-off) but assistant manager Jonny Allan will be in charge, with Tose away at his sister's wedding.

Tose said: "I will be trying to do the team talk over speaker phone. But Jonny knows exactly what has been going on."

Atherton LR have already been beaten twice by the Sky Blues this term, ahead of today's clash at Crilly Park.

"We have played them twice already this season," Tose said.

"We were 2-0 down in the cup and came back to win 3-2 and then beat them 3-0 a few weeks ago.

"I've heard their pitch is quite testing. That will cause its own problems. But we have quite a strong squad over the next three games."

Goalkeeper Adam Coward will again be unavailable, with Karl Skelton getting the chance to keep his place after playing in last Saturday's win over Cheadle Town.

The City boss added: "We are going to have 16 this weekend. Karl Skelton will be in goal.

"It's nice for him to get three games on the bounce because Adam will be missing on Boxing Day, as well, I think."

David Wallace scored a late winner last weekend as the Sky Blues claimed a 2-1 victory and Tose praised Wallace.

"I was pleased for Dave Wallace," he said. "He made a couple of mistakes at the start of the season, which knocked his confidence.

"But he has been brilliant for the last five or six weeks."

Michael Reed is unavailable, although he should return for the two Carlisle City home matches over the Christmas period.

Ryan Errington and Michael Slack should be available but Anthony Wright looks set to stay with Workington Reds for the foreseeable future.