Chris Beech said he will give sidelined players as long as possible to prove their fitness ahead of Carlisle United’s first game of 2021.

The Blues boss had a depleted squad for Tuesday’s aborted game at Harrogate with top scorer Jon Mellish among the absentees.

Head coach Beech said he would normally prefer to be sure of his selections well in advance of a game - but will give players longer to try and return to his considerations ahead of Saturday’s trip to Walsall.

“There are two or three lads, really, but we’ll see,” said Beech today.

“I’ll know more as we grow into heading down the M6 to the game.

“I don’t like making later decisions, being honest, but in the current circumstance I’ll have to change my tactic a bit and open the window of opportunity a little bit more to the lads, to give them an extra 12-24 hours to see where they are.”

Mellish and frontman Gavin Reilly were both missing on Tuesday, with Gime Toure back in France for a personal matter and skipper Nick Anderton continuing to self-isolate after coming into contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid-19.

The captain will miss a third game for that reason this weekend, but Beech revealed United have avoided other coronavirus-related absences.

He said: “Nick’s available after Saturday, so he’s not available for [this] Saturday, due to what happened. It’s just the way it is.

“We’ve had a few track and trace texts and things like that have gone on this week, but ultimately we’ve got on top of it all.

“A few of the boys had a virus test yesterday in walk-in centres and they’ve all come back negative, so that’s very good.

“We’re having to do things like that just to make sure we’re good for training today.”

At a time some in football have called for the season to be paused, given the increasing number of games in the EFL which have fallen victim to Covid-19 infections, Beech said United will simply carry on preparing as best they can to continue.

“It is difficult, but it’s what it is and I know in the new year the EFL are having mass testing to the whole system,” he said.

“I know a lot of clubs are already shutting down, some Premier League training grounds are shutting down, and big Sam Allardyce is saying it’s time for a rest. It seems a little bit that way at the moment.

“We have to ignore all that while we try and concentrate on finding a venue to train at today, because it’s very cold, regrouping and seeing who’s fit and prepare to play Walsall.

“I’m one for trying the best to carry on, hence why I was very supportive even at 5pm at Harrogate when the referee looks at the pitch, the ice and snow, I let the opposition manager lead and I didn’t try and influence one bit prior or when the game started. I think in the end the ref made the right call to avoid serious injuries.

“The bigger picture, just from watching national news, there seems to be more uplift in terms of infections but I understand there’ll be more testing going on than when we first locked down.

“At the same time it doesn’t mean to say the virus ain’t here. It does put you in some really strange, peculiar positions and conversations.

“We do our best in our current circumstances to make sure we represent ourselves to make sure we follow our EFL governance and what we’re doing in terms of being told everything carries on as normal. Even though for me, individually, to not have your captain available is hard, but it is what it is.”