Paul Simpson says new Carlisle United physio Chris Brunskill is ready to hit the ground running after sealing his return to Brunton Park.

Brunskill’s appointment was confirmed yesterday as the Blues’ new head physio in place of Ross Goodwin.

Simpson said Brunskill, who has returned to United from Blackburn Rovers for a second spell, was the outstanding candidate for the position.

And he said the 32-year-old is already getting a handle on the role at Brunton Park in the middle of a campaign when Carlisle’s squad has been beset by injuries.

“He’s already been in for a couple of days to get a bit of a handover from Ross – he knows what he’s coming into,” said manager Simpson.

“I’m sure he’ll have his own ideas of how he wants the medical department to run. I spoke to him last week briefly about changes he wants to make, and there’s only little bits of tinkering he wants to do.

“He’s looking forward to getting started, and now the decision’s been confirmed, and Ross is definitely going, it’s full steam ahead.

READ MORE: Carlisle United confirm new physio appointment

“He’ll certainly be busy but hopefully it will get easier as the months go by.”

After Goodwin’s decision to leave for a role north of the border, Simpson said Brunskill’s application was the strongest.

Asked why the former Blues academy physio stood out, the manager said: “[Firstly], the fact he’s got the qualifications – he’s got everything required to do the physio role, which is not simple to get.

“Recently we were trying to get an academy physio in, we couldn’t get people who had the qualifications to do it.

“We had four really strong applicants who applied for [this] job, but Chris was stand-out because of his experience in football.

“There was probably one other who had a strong CV but when it came to it, but we couldn’t get any reply from her so no idea what happened there.

“Chris was so keen and enthusiastic. From what I’m told he’s really grown and developed as a person in the time he left, I know he’s only been away a short time but he’s been involved in first-team football at Blackburn and I’m really looking forward to getting him working here and started.”

Brunskill had worked at United for several years before joining Blackburn last year.

Simpson said his local connections were another helpful factor in the appointment.

“You need to have someone who’s prepared to move to the area,” he said.

“In a physio role, the hours they put in, they need to understand first what the job entails and how many hours they do have to work, and also to come here…

“I didn’t want someone who’d be doing a long commute each day – it’s not good for their working day but also not good for their family lives, and probably leads to them being here for a short time.

“I want someone who wanted to come back and live in Carlisle, wanted to work at the football club and Chris certainly ticks both those boxes.

“I’m delighted he’s agreed to come. From the moment the job got advertised he made it quite clear he wanted to return, and he was the strongest candidate that applied as well.

“I was disappointed to lose Ross but I think we’ve got a really good replacement in Chris joining us.”