Carlisle United director of football David Holdsworth said the club is ready to push on with recruitment as soon as they get the green light for next season.

With the situation still unclear surrounding the 2020/21 season, Holdsworth admits it has been a long waiting game.

But he said there was plenty of work going on behind the scenes at Brunton Park to make sure the Blues are ready to go when the time comes.

“There’s been a lot of work going on behind the scenes as we get ourselves organised for when that announcement comes,” he told the club website.

“We’re hopeful that conclusion will be soon, because it feels like it’s been a long time in waiting.

“Through it all we’ve been very patient and we’ve seen that the staff we have are incredible people.

"I think it’s been frustrating but it’s brought everybody a lot closer together.

"When you find that you’re in a tough time you have to support people and every day is a different day.”

He went on to add: “We’re doing everything we can to make sure that we’re in a stable condition, and that we can get ourselves up and running as quickly as possible.

“My job is extremely hard at the moment, and I’m dealing a lot with agents who want to get things moving, but the whole process is difficult until such time as we get a start date.

"We’re just crossing our fingers that somebody makes a decision on that soon.

"As I say, we’re doing all we can, but it isn’t easy.

“There are players out of contract, players we want to recruit, but we can’t move on it at the moment.

“We always have to respect the place we’re at in terms of finance, but likewise we’re making sure that Carlisle United is ready to go into battle whenever it is that we can.

“I can’t give any conclusive information away at the moment, but what I can say is that I’m working constantly to prepare for the day when we move things forward.

“There are issues with things like furlough, and the financial restrictions that are being discussed, but we’re prepared and ready to go whenever it is that we get the go ahead.”

The club had a fantastic response to their facemasks, with the first batch selling out completely this week.

But the good news is that the club-branded face masks - designed by ERREA - should be back in stock later this month, keep watching the Carlisle United website for more details.