Carlisle United boss Paul Simpson has shot down rumours that Joe Garner could leave – and said he’ll be in the squad tomorrow.
Experienced Garner’s omission from last weekend’s League One defeat at Port Vale, as well as Tuesday’s reserve game at Wigan Athletic, had led to some speculation among fans about his Brunton Park future.
But Simpson said there is no issue with Garner and he will be in his thinking for Saturday’s clash with Shrewsbury Town.
“I’ll tell you now, without a doubt, Joe will be involved with us on Saturday,” said Simpson of the 35-year-old.
“There’s no doubt about that in my mind – unless something happens between now and Saturday.
“Regarding Joe, and I said this last weekend, when I looked at the make-up of the bench, Joe wasn’t going to be on the bench, so I had a conversation with him.
“With a senior player, I’d always do this, ‘Do you want to travel as 19th man or do the work we set at home?’, and he said I’d rather stay at home.
“He’s come in and trained this week. I didn’t feel as though he needed a game on Tuesday but I felt Ryan Edmondson did, just to try and get him scoring a goal maybe, getting an opportunity, getting some match minutes – that’s why Edmo played. Nothing else.
“I had a group of 14 players here on Tuesday that I took a session with, and Joe was involved. He’s trained again today [Thursday].
“There’s absolutely no problem between me and Joe Garner and he’s part of the group at the moment.”
Simpson, meanwhile, has confirmed that Jokull Andresson will make his home debut against the Shrews.
The Reading loanee came in for Tomas Holy at Port Vale as Simpson made a goalkeeping change.
Andresson was involved in the incident that led to Port Vale’s goal, as he failed to control a Jon Mellish throw-in before conceding a penalty.
Simpson largely absolved Andresson of blame for the incident and is putting his faith in the Iceland international this weekend.
“I’m not going to sit on the fence with this one, Jokull is playing this Saturday, it’s as simple as that,” said Simpson.
“I think he deserves a chance to play and I felt it was the time to change it.
“I’m not suddenly going to change my mind after 90 minutes. He deserves to play, and…if he’s fit, he’ll be playing.”
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