Carlisle United manager Paul Simpson expects Kristian Dennis to make a quick return from the injury that ruled him out of the win over Doncaster.

The Blues’ top scorer was sidelined with a hamstring injury.

But manager Simpson – who watched his side win 3-0 without the eight-goal striker – is hoping Dennis will return to action next weekend.

The 32-year-old became the latest in a series of injury absentees at Brunton Park, and Simpson said: “It was a strange one because he had a little bit of a hamstring issue a couple of weeks ago, but he got over that.

“Right at the end of the game against Hartlepool [last weekend] he chased across from right to left to close a player down, and the ball got rolled back to the keeper.

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“He chased on and he felt something tighten. He came off and told us about it, and we haven’t had it scanned but we believe it’s similar to Fin [Back] in that it’s a grade one and it needs seven to ten days.

“He was sore during the week, and he trained on Wednesday and had a little bit of a reaction.

“We settled it down, he’s worked on it on Thursday and Friday, and again today, and the signs are very positive. That’s for him and Fin.

“I hope they’ll both be able to do more work with the medical team on Monday and Tuesday, I’ll check how they are on Wednesday, and then I’ll have them back with the group on Thursday and Friday next week.

“I’ve said it many times, I don’t want to take chances on hamstrings, you just can’t with that type of thing, but I do hope they’re back with us for consideration next week.”

Simpson, meanwhile, said Corey Whelan will be assessed after he hurt his ankle late in United’s impressive 3-0 win against Donny.

News and Star: Corey Whelan comes off Corey Whelan comes off (Image: Ben Holmes)

The in-form defender had to be replaced by Morgan Feeney in the closing stages.

“I don’t know if the lad fell on him but he got trodden on his ankle,” Simpson said.

“I don’t know how bad it is. There’s no point taking chances.

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“I really wanted to give Morgan a little taster, because there hasn’t been opportunities to keep him involved. He’s a leader in the group in the way he goes about it.

“I’m sure Corey could have carried on if he wanted to, so I’m hoping he’ll be ok come next week.”

There was better news on the fitness front with Ryan Edmondson making his first league start for over a month in the victory over Doncaster.

Ben Barclay was back in the league squad for the first time since early August, while others such as Tobi Sho-Silva are getting closer to a return.