Nathan Thomas says he would “definitely” consider Carlisle United as an option for a summer move.

The forward will have talks over his future at Premier League new boys Sheffield United once his loan spell with the Blues is over.

The 24-year-old admits he is in the dark over the Blades’ plans for him at the moment. But after United boss Steven Pressley said Carlisle would be interested should they make Thomas available, the player spoke positively about his time at Brunton Park.

“I haven’t spoken to Sheffield United yet – I have another year there, and obviously they’ve done really well [and are now] a Premier League team next season,” Thomas said.

“It’s a conversation I’ll have to have in the upcoming weeks.

“I’ve really enjoyed my time here. I think [on Saturday against Crawley] you saw one of my better games.

“I’ve had a good time, it’s a really good group of lads, I’ve really enjoyed being in the group, and I wish them all the success no matter what happens.

“It’s an avenue that I’ll definitely explore in the summer. I’d love to come back, but I don’t know what the situation is yet.”

Thomas’ two goals in the 4-2 victory over Crawley took his tally to four in 15 games and the former Hartlepool favourite says he has warmed to Steven Pressley’s management since joining in January.

He added: “It’s always nice to impress the gaffer. We haven’t always seen eye to eye over things, and it was a new way of playing, the position [he asked me to play in] – it maybe took me a little while.

“But the gaffer has obviously put his faith in me and I’ve played a lot of football under him. He’s been really good by me.”

Thomas impressed with two quickfire goals on Saturday which helped take United’s play-off hopes to the final day.

He scored in the seventh and ninth minutes in a breakneck start from the Cumbrians which saw them 4-0 up after half-an-hour.

Thomas said: “It was fantastic, the first half. You could see it clicked all of a sudden, things just seemed to work.

“Our patterns of play were fantastic and we were ruthless in front of goal.

“The second half wasn’t as good but when you’ve got a four-goal advantage, you do self-consciously take your foot off the gas a little bit. Maybe we invited them on to us a little bit too much but I still thought there were goals there for us in the second half.

“When you play that well for the first half, maybe you earn the right to take your foot off the gas a little bit.”

Thomas says his spell with United has given him a much-needed boost after his disappointing time with relegation-threatened Notts County in the first-half of the campaign.

He said: “This was massive for me. Massive. Because last time I was at this level [with Hartlepool] I did really well. To go to Notts County, I thought that could have another kick-start, and it never really took off.

“From day one here it felt a bit different and maybe it did take its time to [come to the boil], but I think I’ve had some really good performances while I’ve been here.

“Maybe not as many as I’d have liked but you can see I’ve been getting better.

“For me, coming here changed the whole season for me. It was a season that six months ago I was ready to write off, forget about and move on, whereas now it’s a season I can look back on quite fondly.”

The attacker said Carlisle’s efforts against Crawley helped them put to bed their poor display at Grimsby on Easter Monday.

He is now hoping for a memorable final day of the campaign with United hoping to snatch the last play-off place. The Blues need to win at Yeovil and hope several other results go their way.

Thomas said of their last-day incentive: “What more could you want? We’ve messed up that many times, and it’s a gift as it is that we’re actually still there.

“I’m sure every single lad in that changing room will put everything they’ve got into it to get a win, and then we’ll leave it up to the football gods.

“You never know. Stranger things have happened. The most important thing for us [on Saturday] was that we were still in the hunt come the final day, and we are.

“We keep clinging on, somehow, I’m not saying it’s meant to be but…football’s weird, isn’t it? We might sneak in the back door. I really hope we do, I think the team deserves it.”

Thomas, though, warned that Yeovil will not be easy opponents even though they have already been relegated from the Football League.

“Everybody’s got pride,” he said. “If a team was coming here and wanting to get promoted, you’d want to stop that happening no matter what.

“Maybe once all the pressure’s off, that’s when people are dangerous. We’ve got to approach it like any other game, like we approached Lincoln and Crawley.

“No matter what happens, we’ve got to win the football match, and we’ll do everything we can to do that.”