Northern Premier League Premier Division side Warrington Town have signed Carlisle’s first year pro Lewis Bell on a month-long loan deal.
Bell, 19, signed a two-year contract with the Blues at the end of the 2020/21 season and will be in the Warrington squad for Saturday’s attractive home game with South Shields.
Fifth in the table Warrington are three points behind South Shields who are third.
United manager Keith Millen said: “As we say whenever any of our players go out on loan, we want them to work hard and be the best player when they go out on the pitch.
“Warrington are pushing at the top end of their division, so Lewis is going into a competitive environment where they will need him to play a part.
“I’ve spoken to him and he’s another young lad who wants to be playing games. He’ll need to earn his place, which I’m sure he will, and it will be good for him to be part of that match day dressing room environment.
“We’ll monitor it, as you would expect, and hopefully he’ll do exactly what we know he’s capable of and that will help his confidence to grow.”
Carlisle-born Bell joined the academy system when he was just nine years old, and progressed through to the under-18 squad having impressed at every level through the age groups.
His performance against Liverpool in a 2020/21 pre-season friendly, when he played the final 30-minutes of the game at the Kirkby training base, caught the eye and he was on the bench for the first game of that season in the EFL Trophy against Fleetwood.
It’s very possible that the loan move was instigated by former Carlisle United defender David Raven who is assistant manager at Warrington.
Raven had been a key defender with Marine in NPL West but before Christmas switched to Warrington as number two, having decided to hang up his boots.
Since then Marine have struggled, slipping from League leaders to third in the table.
