George Tanner made a welcome return to action for Carlisle United – but Danny Devine is facing up to two weeks on the sidelines.

Right-back Tanner gave the Blues a boost by playing 77 minutes of their pre-season friendly against Everton Under-23s after missing recent games.

Blues assistant boss Gavin Skelton said injury absentees Rod McDonald and Morgan Feeney are also set to make a quick return in the coming days.

But a muscle injury means midfielder Devine could miss the first game of the season.

Skelton said: “Morgan’s doing his rehab, he might train on Thursday, he might be available Friday – it might be too soon, but maybe not.

“Rod we’re hoping [will] be back Friday.

“And Danny Devine has a grade one [injury]. I think it’s only 10 days to two weeks; he’s not too bad.”

Skelton was pleased by Tanner’s display against the Toffees’ development side as he made only his second appearance of pre-season in Carlisle's 3-2 win.

The former Manchester United man had not featured since the opening friendly against Penrith.

“I thought he was strong,” Skelton said of Tanner’s display yesterday. “Right from the off.

He said: “He’s not played loads of minutes but he looked quite fit and quite strong.

“There’s more to come but we’re really pleased with that and he’ll take confidence from that game – as it went on his fitness levels were good, his overlapping, getting in the final third, which is George Tanner at his best.

“It hasn’t been anything major – just one of those things he’s taken a couple of days to get over. He’s not missed much training time, really.

“His fitness levels were good. I think he surprised himself with how fit he was. He’s done the off-season plan, he’s done the start of pre-season, and he’ll probably be fresher than some.”

First-year pro Keelan Leslie, meanwhile, has returned to training after missing much of pre-season with injury.

The teenager took part in a session yesterday.

Skelton, speaking immediately after the Everton game, said: "Keelan will train now and should be back involved either later this week or next week."

United will now assess their squad ahead of Friday night’s final warm-up game against Halifax at Brunton Park.

“All being well, come the start of next week, we’re not looking in too bad shape,” Skelton added.