Keith Millen says Carlisle United have drawn up shortlists of January targets who fit the “profile” of exactly what the team needs.

The Blues manager says he has been looking at “a lot of players” with less than a month until the transfer window opens.

Millen says he has identified particular areas of the team that he feels need to be strengthened to boost their League Two prospects.

And he said it is important to tailor United’s potential targets as closely as possible with this in mind.

“We’ve got a list, we’ve identified [players] – it’s important we’ve got a profile of the types of players we need,” Millen told the News & Star.

“I don’t just want to collect players for the sake of it. We try and identify the types of players we feel would help and strengthen us.

“Then you must come up with a list, because the idea is to have maybe someone at the top of your list who you’ve got to really push for, and then as you go down the list they might become cheaper or easier to come by.

“We’ve got lists of a certain profile of players you want, [though] it does tend to change as the days go by. You have to have feelers out there.

“You get players put to you by agents and just know there’s no chance they’re gonna come here.

“You have to have a lot of conversations with clubs, players, agents, and try and work out which ones are available or we could do.”

Millen said he has been watching lots of games and “spinning plates” as he weighs up potential activity in the window.

“I’ve identified where I think we need to strengthen – that will stay within the conversations we have,” he added at his weekly press conference ahead of the Shrewsbury Town FA Cup tie.

“But we’ve still got six games before the window opens. That’s a lot of games to concentrate on. So it’s sort of on the backburner. But the work’s ongoing.”

Millen was asked whether he expected to face any geographical challenges in persuading players to come to Carlisle.

He said: “I’m told it can be an issue. It’s down to me to try and sell the club, and myself, of what we’re trying to do, to the player, whether it’s a loan or a signing.

“If it’s a loan we’ve got to make sure the club understand we’re going to look after the player [and coach them] the right way.

“I think it’s really important we emphasise to clubs that the player, if we’re bringing them in…what they do suits what we’re trying to do, and the parent club understands they’re going to come to us and play to their strengths.

“That’s why it’s important you profile the types of player you want. We’ve put together a presentation of what we’re about, the way we try and play, the way we work, the way we train, and that’s available to send to the parent clubs if they want to see that.

“Quite often in the modern game they ask for that. We’ve got that together and hopefully that can entice.

“If they don’t want to come, you don’t really want them, do you. Hopefully they’re going to come and play football.”