Carlisle United travel to Charlton Athletic this weekend with two crucial players walking a disciplinary tightrope.
Both Josh Vela and Jon Mellish are on the verge of suspension, and a booking at The Valley would result in their ban.
Vela has 14 yellow cards in the league this season, and if he receives another between now and the conclusion of the season, he will be suspended for three games.
And defender Mellish is one booking away from 10 yellow cards in the league, but he can avoid a two-game suspension if he does not receive a booking in the following two games, with the 37-game mark serving as the cut-off.
The possibility of missing either player for an extended period of time would complicate United’s efforts to regain some form before relegation to League Two appears inevitable.
Simpson stated that Vela’s impending suspension was the reason the January signing was substituted in the second half of last weekend’s 3-1 loss to Reading.
“He’s on 14 yellow cards and it was one of those where I couldn’t take any chances of him getting a 15th and getting three games,” he stated.
The majority of Vela’s bookings this season were for former club Fleetwood Town, with 12 in the league and one in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy, when cards are not counted in the league totting-up process. He’s been booked twice with Carlisle.
Mellish has eleven bookings to his name, one of which was also in the Trophy. He and Vela are the only United players who may face such a suspension for the duration of the season.
Both are expected to start for United at The Valley as Carlisle look to recover from their most recent defeat.
Reading’s defeat left them 15 points from safety with 11 games remaining, with bookies now putting the Blues at 1/1,000 to go down.
They face Nathan Jones’ Addicks, United’s first visit to The Valley since 2011.
Carlisle’s loss to Reading was their ninth in 10 games, and some fans left as early as the 57th minute, after Reading’s third goal.
Manager Paul Simpson admits that the current scenario is difficult for fans, but he also says that the majority of them are sticking with his squad, and that they will continue to fight.
“I think it is tough for supporters, it’s tough for everybody involved with the football club,” Simpson told the BBC.
“The one thing I can say is that the majority of the supporters stuck with it [last weekend]. They also observed the participants attempting to participate.
“They kept continuing, demonstrating a desire to do so. So that is a good that we can take.
“We’re in a hard situation. They must be and remain professional. I was happy with how they finished the game and stayed with it.
“We’ve just got to keep working to try and get positive results.”
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