Steven Pressley has insisted that discussing new deals with some Carlisle United players but not others at this stage would risk “fragmenting” the Blues’ dressing room.

The manager said all players would be told of his decisions on their futures at the same time - after the end of the season.

Many fans have asked why United have not acted quicker to try and secure star midfielder Jamie Devitt on a longer deal.

He is among several players whose contract is up this summer.

Asked about the Devitt situation by the News & Star, Pressley said: “I understand the concerns.

“The problem is that if you go and start to speak to one, you can’t then not speak to others.

“There’s got to be a consistency and people need to understand that.

“We have a situation where we’re going for a promotion. If you have a situation where you start telling people, letting certain ones down, giving others good news, you have quite a fragmented dressing room.

“I’ve tried to keep the focus away from that, and be consistent in the respect that we’ll speak to everybody once we are clear on our future.”

Pressley said he would meet players on a one-on-one basis after the last game of the season and speak to them “directly and honestly” about his decisions.

The manager also suggested he already knows who he will and will not be offering new terms.

He added: “I’m quite clear in my mind at this moment in time as to the personnel.

“It [recent months] has been not so good in terms of being sometimes a bit of a rollercoaster in results, but sometimes as a manager when you see that, you see how people adapt to the disappointment, to adversity.

“These are important factors when you’re deciding on your players. If you go in and the journey is very smooth, you never truly find out about the character of the player.

“It has allowed me to assess certain characters, to see the signs of players, I’m quite clear in my mind moving forward.”