Carlisle United manager Paul Simpson has been giving an insight towards his thinking ahead of the first League Two game in a fortnight.
Speaking to the club’s website, Simpson said he was getting closer to knowing who will start for Crawley on July 30.
“I’m trying a few different things as we go along. We’re using different things in terms of shape, and the back five along with the keeper has been consistent in the way I want to play, but I want the front five to be quite fluid.
“At times it will be one holding midfielder and two eights above that, with two strikers, and on other occasions it may be two holding midfielders with three in front.
“I want them to be able to adapt depending on what the opposition are. I’m picking a team against Bolton that allows me to have a look at something else, and I’ll probably do the same again in our training game at Largs, then again for Morecambe the following week.
“I have a clear idea in my head of how I want us to set up, and it’s up to the players to put on the performance to show me and the rest of the staff that they’re the ones who should be in that side and in that particular shape.
“For the bench, I think I’ve got eight, so I’m not having 12 or 13 players this time. Some of the young boys who’ve been involved in the early games, they’ve gone and played in a youth team game at Middlesbrough today.
“We’re starting to get more focused and tuning in to proper games. It isn’t going to be nine subs made on 60 minutes or anything like that.
“It’s a serious game where I want a bunch of them to get 90 minutes if possible, then on Tuesday of next week we’ll try and get another bunch of them to get 90 minutes and keep building them up until we get to the Crawley game.”
