Carlisle United's players can be forgiven if they don't know what to do with themselves this week.

For it is the first time for nearly THREE MONTHS that the Blues haven't had a midweek fixture to prepare for.

Chris Beech's side have finally come to the end of a seemingly relentless period of Tuesday night action.

They have played on 11 consecutive Tuesday nights, on top of their regular Saturday games.

Tomorrow will be the first free Tuesday for United since February 9.

Since then, they have played 22 games in the space of just 75 days as they have caught up on a string of mid-season postponements.

Tenth-placed United had to fit a host of games back into the calendar with the EFL having been reluctant to extend the season.

That is despite a backlog of games suffered by a number of sides, Carlisle themselves seeing 10 games called off for different reasons in the winter.

United's midweek run started on February 16 at Harrogate, since when there has been little respite for the team.

Beech has responded to the chance of a breather by giving his players today off.

That comes before they return to training to begin preparations for the Blues' final game of the season - at home to Walsall on Saturday.

Asked if it was a chance for some rest, the United boss said: "A hundred per cent - they can have Bank Holiday Monday off.

"We can’t just have a week off and say 'I'm not on Twitter for a week' - we have to carry on and we had to in extreme circumstances.

"They can have Monday off, we’ll fitness test for Tuesday to see where we all are, we’ll have Wednesday off, and then we’ll prepare for Walsall Thursday-Friday."

Beech also admitted it was a shame the ongoing Covid-19 situation meant a post-match gathering after the 46th game of the campaign might not be possible.

He said: "It’s such a strange situation to be in, to not even be considering, can we do anything together? Are the players allowed to meet after the game?

"It’s such a sad situation and nobody’s told me anything. I don’t know. Lights go out and we all go home? I don’t know what happens after Saturday."