Paul Simpson was full of praise for Jack Ellis after the Cumbrian teenager seized his latest chance in the Carlisle United side.

The 18-year-old came in for the injured Fin Back against Doncaster – and shone in United’s 3-0 win.

It was Ellis’s first league outing for nearly two months, and manager Simpson said his display at wing-back summed up the young player’s attitude and professionalism.

He also said it came after the teenager had been considering asking for a loan move to gain more first-team opportunities.

“It wasn’t only his defending – I thought he did really well in forward areas as well. He’s been excellent. I’m really pleased for him,” said Simpson.

“I’m a bit sad, I don’t know why I do it, but when I’m driving home I always think about what’s gone on in the day and think about what I could have done better or differently, and all that sort of rubbish.

“Jack’s one of those people who very rarely comes into my head, because he quietly goes about his business and does things right.

“He’s waited for that chance. I did speak to him on Monday and told him if Fin wasn’t fit to start he would play, so he had to make sure he’s ready and got everything he possibly could from the county cup game [at Cleator Moor Celtic] on Tuesday.

“I wanted to tell him early, because we didn’t expect Fin to be right for today. Thankfully he’s done it all properly and has got his rewards out of it.”

It was Ellis’s third league appearance of the season and the Staveley youngster’s seventh first-team outing in total.

The former youth team captain’s contribution summed up the team ethic at United, Simpson said.

“When I talked about Doncaster to the players before the game, I highlighted three players who I thought could be a threat for them,” the manager added.

“I thought George Miller would play, and I felt if we could nullify that threat that’s going to help us a long way to getting a result. I felt Adam Clayton could be a good footballer who can cause problems and we limited him to playing his passes from quite deep. And Luke Molyneux was a player I thought could cause problems.

“But Jack stuck to his task, and in the first half stopped no end of crosses going in, and he was really dogged in his defending. So I’m delighted with him, really pleased.

“It’s quite interesting – when I was walking in, Fin Back was stood waiting for all the players and I just said, ‘You’ve got a job on your hands to get back in’.

“He said, ‘Don’t say that to me gaffer, everybody’s been winding me up about it all afternoon’.

“This is what you want – players to come in and perform, and do the job that keeps it all ticking over, ready for when we have other players available – then it’s not a case of dropping people, it’s a case of rotating it.

“Jack was in a position a couple of weeks ago where he’s starting to question whether he’s going to get a chance, and he was asking whether or not he should come and speak to the manager about possibly going out on loan, and these sort of things.

“But he kept doing things right in training, he’s worked hard and done everything properly, and I thought he was outstanding.”