Injured Carlisle United defender Morgan Feeney is set to have another x-ray on his broken foot to establish the extent of his lay-off.

The January signing suffered a luckless start to his Blues career when he picked up the injury in training soon after his move to Brunton Park.

It has ruled the ex-Everton and Sunderland man out of action for a number of weeks.

Head coach Chris Beech says United soon hope to learn more about how long he will be sidelined.

“A broken foot’s a broken foot,” Beech said. “He’s getting another x-ray to determine the healing process to determine what happens next.

News and Star: Morgan Feeney (photo: PA)Morgan Feeney (photo: PA)

“As soon as he’s passed that point of rehab, it’s exactly where it is.

“Hopefully it’s good news and he’ll be good to go and supporting the lads that are playing now.”

Feeney, 22, suffered the injury on the same day that teenage winger Jamie Armstrong broke his ankle.

While the two players are out for the foreseeable, Beech was boosted this week by the return to action of defender George Tanner.

The right-back was back in the side to face Harrogate on Tuesday having recovered from a broken collarbone, and Tanner could now face his former loan club Salford City this Saturday.

Beech said of the 21-year-old’s recovery: “He’s a very physical player as an athlete, in how he looks after himself; he eats well, he’s always doing extra gym work, and the beauty about having an arm injury is you could keep his legs strong, and do those sort of things that can hold you back if it’s a leg injury.

“Normally when players get injured in their lower body, they work on upper strength which sometimes isn’t a great gain to a footballer. The other way round I think has benefited George.

“Of course his arm’s stronger than it was before, because he’s got [something] like a steel snooker table on his x-ray pictures in his collarbone.

“It’s great to see him back. He’s not played for so long like many of the players, but now we have. He’ll feel a lot better for playing the other night even though he didn’t get what he wanted [in terms of the result].

“I think he tired towards the end of the game but of course you would do. We’ll train well today and I’m sure he’ll be available and up for playing against Salford if he’s selected.”

Beech also handed Brennan Dickenson his first start in Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat.

“If anything I thought Brennan looked quite sharp,” the United boss said.

“He played various positions – inside left, outside left and ended up at left-back, that’s because the answers come to me within that, trying to gain a yard and an intrusion on your opponent.

“The game didn’t go to plan in terms of what we wanted, but there was definitely an attack from ourselves to try and make an influence.

“Brennan playing left-back…you’re almost playing a left-winger at left-back really, he’s got that capability of a change of pace, crossing on the move and shooting from distance, and those things are vital when you’re trying to get a goal.”

Beech said he had no new injury concerns ahead of Saturday’s trip to Salford.