Graham Westley has returned for a fourth spell in charge of Stevenage - Carlisle United's fellow League Two strugglers.

The 51-year-old is back at the Lamex Stadium after a four-year absence, with Stevenage five points behind the Blues in second bottom position.

It raises the prospect of a final-day showdown between Westley and United, with the Hertfordshire side due to visit Brunton Park for the final game of the season next April.

Westley succeeds his former No2 Dino Maamria, who was sacked in September, with caretaker boss Mark Sampson now returning to his previous coaching role at the club.

Stevenage have won just two of their 20 league games so far and sit a point above bottom side Morecambe.

Westley has had a number of encounters with the Blues over the years, notably the 2005 Conference play-off final when United beat his Stevenage side 1-0.

A notoriously divisive figure among many fans, his last managerial job saw Westley fail to steer Barnet away from relegation in 2018, while the previous year he was sacked by Newport.

Aside from his three previous stints in charge of Boro which saw promotion and play-off campaigns, his other managerial posts include spells at Preston and Peterborough.

Stevenage chairman Phil Wallace said: "Graham got us into the Football League almost 10 years ago and I can't think of anyone better equipped to reinvigorate the team and start winning matches.

"Graham knows the club inside out, we know each other inside out and he is desperate to put his career back on track.

"We need a manager with extensive experience, someone motivated to win and someone who knows how to win in this league.

"We started this season four months ago thinking we would be promotion candidates and the season so far has been a rude awakening for us all."

Wallace, speaking on his club's website, added that he believes Westley has "evolved and matured" since his last spell at Stevenage ended four-and-a-half years ago, and claimed the manager is a "top operator".

His appointment means all the bottom seven teams in League Two will soon have different managers to those who started the season, 18th-placed Mansfield having dismissed John Dempster yesterday and believed to be eyeing Bristol Rovers' Graham Coughlan.