Keith Millen says Joel Senior showed positive signs on his brief Carlisle United debut.

The former Altrincham defender, who joined the Blues on Monday, came off the bench for the closing stages of their Papa John’s Trophy defeat at Harrogate.

Senior showed positive intent on the right in his cameo display during the 1-0 third round exit.

And manager Millen said: “I think there’s a lot more to come from him, hopefully.

“He needs to understand a lot of things about how I want to defend, but he showed signs [in this game] that he can get forward with pace, he can see a pass and deliver a pass.

“They’re the things I want from my full-backs. It was great to give him some minutes, and he’ll be better for that.

“Kelvin [Mellor] has done well. It looked like he tired a little bit because I was demanding of him to get up and down…it’s hard work, so it’s nice to be able to have a few options if I need to change it.”

Millen also welcomed the return to action of midfielder Joe Riley, who has been out since late November with a shoulder injury.

He played the second half at he Envirovent Stadium after replacing Sam Fishburn at the break.

“Joe’s a good footballer. I felt we needed another footballer,” said Millen of the change.

“We weren’t just going to bulldoze through [Harrogate]. They had two big centre-halves that were competitive. We didn’t need that type of game, we needed to move the ball quicker, and that’s one of Joe’s strengths.”

Millen added that certain players were still striving to return to peak fitness after the effects of the recent Covid lay-off at United.

“Callum [Guy] came come off again, he still probably isn’t 100 per cent, and he and Jack Armer are the two that have missed most training.

“Tristan Abrahams and Manny Mampala only trained, really, one day [after returning from isolation], so it was good that they got some minutes.”