Grainger on Devitt's progress as Workington return to action

That’s the view of manager Danny Grainger as he continues building up his former team-mate’s fitness at Borough Park.

Former Carlisle United star Devitt joined Workington in a player-coach capacity recently.

It followed a tough summer for the midfielder after his departure from the Blues and a long-term hamstring injury lay-off.

Grainger said: “Dev got through the first 60 minutes in his last outing, and did really well.

“His fitness levels are getting up, he’s getting through sessions a lot better and you can see confidence is building in his body.

“If we can keep him fit we can only benefit from his experience and quality.”

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Workington, after two Saturdays without a game, are back in league action this Saturday with a trip to Guiseley in Northern Premier League Premier Division.

Grainger says that, whilst it is unusual to have back-to-back weekends without a fixture, the spell has been timely for Workington as they plot further progress after last season’s promotion.

“It’s probably come at a great time,” he said.

Danny Grainger, left, says Reds' recent spell without a weekend game has given he and assistant Terry Mitchell the chance to pause and assess the squad (Image: Ben Challis)

“Me and Terry [Mitchell, assistant manager] have sat down and evaluated the squad and what we think we need.

“It’s come at a good time to have a reset, and get some good work into people like Dev.

“It’s strange to have a couple of Saturdays off in the middle of a season but it’s given us the chance to sit down, reset and prepare to kick on.

“We’ve had Goose [Dan Wordsworth] retiring, a couple of bad results, and fingers crossed we can come out of it better and make sure we’re going in the right direction.”

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Grainger has overseen some changes to the squad recently, with three players joining Penrith on a dual-registration basis and others leaving Borough Park.

Connor Hammell, Matty Bell and Lewis Moore have linked up with Darren Edmondson’s Penrith, while ex-Carlisle United man Keelan Leslie has left Reds along with Gabriel Rios Newton.

Reds, meanwhile, are extending the loan of young Preston North End midfielder Kitt Nelson, and also hope to bring in another loan signing before the weekend.

“Kitt has done really well for us,” added Grainger, whose side sit 13th in the table ahead of the trip to seventh-placed Guiseley.