United media officer and first team kitman Andy Hall spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's James Phillips on Friday evening ahead of Carlisle's pre-season friendly at Kendal, Hall first talking about the disappointing news about Blues centre-half Danny Livesey :
" It is bad news for Danny, particularly when you look back to last season when he had, literally on the eve of the Wembley final, he pulled his hamstring so he missed that. Later on in the season he had trouble with his pelvis so he missed the back end of the season. On Monday he had to pull out of training, he had a problem with his groin, it has been looked at this week, he will be referred to a consultant next week.
" We will put a time limit just now so that people are aware of what is going on, but we don't know exactly what is happening, but the injury in the groin at the moment looks like being six to eight weeks at least. That would be back in action if it all goes as we hope that it will, but obviously we have got to see this consultant, if the consultant says that it is something a little bit more serious then we will have to reassess that. That is why we can say at this moment that it will be at least six to eight weeks.
" The first thing that Greg (Abbott) said is that this has highlighted why him and his staff are doing the work at the moment. Because they have got to be out there, they have got to be able to react to situations like this one. It is a horrible thing to happen to Danny but it has happened in pre-season, so we can react to that one now. The manager likes to work behind closed doors on transfers, so I will allow him to do that one. When he wants to answer a question if we are close to bringing anyone in for Danny then he will.
" Playing centre-half is something that Graham Kavanagh did in the reserves for the latter part of last season. He was actually very, very competent as well, as you would expect from somebody like Kav. Paul Thirlwell, I think what you are looking at with a friendly like this is more about getting pitch-time rather than where are they playing, how are they playing. "
" That was shown last season when we got slaughtered down here 5-2, because Kendal are actually a very good football team, I think they have only lost two games here all of last season themselves. So it is about getting the players on the pitch, but Paul Thirlwell in the centre of defence is a round peg in a square hole, everybody is aware of that but it is needs must tonight.
" As a club you have got to try to keep Steven Swinglehurst's feet on the floor, but the fact of the matter is he gets involved because he has got potential. Everybody has seen that, anybody who has watched him play has seen he has got a calm head about him.
" He can use the ball, he can use his head and the ball which is important, and it is not always easy to marry the two together. But he is a player who has got a bit of potential, but Steven is under no illusions whatsoever that there is a lot of hard work ahead for him if he is going to make the next step, but things like this will help.
" We saw Billy Gibson last season when he played for us in the reserves, he came up from Watford and did really well, he was ill as well when he played that game. So that is why he has been invited back so that Greg can have another look and see if, again, he can fulfil the potential that Greg seems to think that he has got. "
" The rest of the lads, Greg wouldn't have brought them in if he didn't think they were going to help with that buzz word of improvement that he keeps mentioning. We think they will and hopefully they will start showing it tonight.
" Francois Zoko has worked really hard, and again, it is really going to be interesting to see how these boys do. Because generally you will get a trialist in, he will come on a Monday and by Wednesday somebody has had a word with him and he has disappeared. But these four (Patrick Cregg, Jake Simpson, Gibson and Zoko) have all stayed and they are all playing tonight.
" Greg genuinely hasn't made a decision as to what happens with them next week, so it is interesting. Francois has caught the imagination, not just because of the name but because of what he can do, and we have all seen that on YouTube, and the rest of them as well, so it is interesting times.
" Kendal are playing really well and Greg has had people down watching Kendal a couple of times, including Eric Kinder has been down to watch these lads last season, just to see how they are getting on. They are a good team, they play football and that is a good thing for a club like this in Cumbria to be doing. Because it means we can come here and not just get a competitive game, but we have got to watch ourselves, because if we don't something like last season happens. "