Tommy Wright has urged Carlisle United not to leave their big managerial decision too much longer.

The joint caretaker manager said the Blues risk losing their recent momentum the more time the issue stays unresolved.

The coach said he and fellow caretaker Paul Murray have yet to be given an indication of when the club will make their big decision.

Wright said: “I speak frequently to Dave [Holdsworth, director of football] about it and have said, look, make a decision one way or another, whether it’s me and Muzza or somebody else.

“That’s their decision. They’ve got to do what’s best for the club, I understand that. [But] it can’t go on and on. The longer it does, you’re in a grey area and the players don’t know really who’s in charge.

“I’ve been through it before. I was caretaker [at a previous club] for about six or seven weeks and it’s just too long. I’ll speak to Dave and Andrew [Jenkins, chairman] and see where they want to go.”

Wright told the News & Star he would “definitely” not be joining former United boss John Sheridan at Chesterfield: “I spoke to John when he was on about going, and I said no, that’s not for me.”

Wright admitted United’s 3-0 defeat to Keith Curle’s Northampton highlighted the need for serious reinforcements in attack.

He said that, while encouraged by Carlisle’s first half performance at the PTS Academy Stadium, their failure to score underlined the issue that needs to be resolved in the market.

United are still in talks over a return for Rotherham’s Jerry Yates, whose sub appearance for the Millers against Ipswich means he cannot play for anyone other than his parent club or Carlisle this season.

The same applies to Ashley Nadesan, who started for Fleetwood against Oxford and is still wanted by the Blues.

On Yates, Wright said: “We’ve spoken to Rotherham - they are looking to get players in and can’t let Jerry out until they do, but fingers crossed. They’ve been good with us and kept us informed all the time.

“It’s not dead, though I wouldn’t say it’s nailed on either. If Rotherham get a couple in then hopefully he’ll be back up.

“[The fact he played for Rotherham] means he could only come back to us is a plus. But Jerry wasn’t going anywhere else - if he’s going out on loan he wants to come to Carlisle, I can assure the fans and everybody he wants to come to Carlisle.”

On Nadesan, the caretaker boss said: “Ashley started, so if he’s back in the picture there it’s not looking great for us. But if they change their mind he can only come to one club now and that’s Carlisle.”

United’s bid for a record-equalling seventh straight league win was dashed by goals from Jack Bridge (two) and Junior Morias.

Wright said: “I thought we created enough chances, especially in the first half, to be leading. But credit to Curley and Northampton, the game got stretched and they turned us.”

He added: “Disappointed with the result, though the performance was good in patches. We know we need to get better and we will, but we do need reinforcements.

“You can see that Jerry Yates was missed, Nadesan was missed. With that front three we looked lively, and no disrespect to the other players, we need players of that calibre to come in, especially in the position we’re in.

“I’ve spoken to Dave, spoken to the chairman, and everybody knows that. It’s getting the players. The backing’s there and we’ll try our hardest to get them in.”

He added: “We take it on the chin, and don’t get carried away, don’t get too low. I’m disappointed for the supporters, because we had a good support, but they know where we’re going.

“They’re not stupid, they know the situation we’re in. If we get our players back, or a couple on loan, we’ll be strong and we’ll be challenging.”

Wright and Murray handed teenager Liam McCarron his full league debut while new loan forward Connor Simpson was a second-half sub. On 17-year-old McCarron, Wright said: “It’s the only way he’ll learn. He made mistakes, but he was confident and kept going, and he’ll learn from it.

“We’ve got faith in the kid, we’ll look after him, try and make him a better player, but I think he will be a good player, it was a great experience for him.”

Wright added that Hallam Hope was substituted in the final minute as a precaution after complaining of a sore calf.