Carlisle United: Doncaster Rovers positive is huge Mike Williamson boost | OneFootball

The head coach now has more tactical flexibility thanks to one player's return to action.

Carlisle United's 0-0 draw against Doncaster Rovers should provide them with even more confidence and hope going forward.

Results on Saturday meant that Carlisle dropped to the foot of the EFL, after picking up a point against Donny, while Morecambe beat Swindon Town 3-2, moving the Blues to the bottom of League Two, with all three sides sat on 13 points.

Despite the slight drop, there's no panic, no furore, no calls for Mike Williamson to be gone; the majority of supporters are happy with the direction that things are going in.

With the chances that both sides had, a draw was probably the fairest result. Carlisle did have the ball in the back of the net late on, but Cameron Harper's effort was ruled out because Georgie Kelly got a touch before the left-back, turned central midfielder, fired in from close range, and he was offside.

It was Kelly's first game for the club since he got injured against Williamson's MK Dons side in the third match of the season. Now the Carlisle boss gets to work with him rather than against him, and that should be a big boost to him and the team.

Georgie Kelly's Carlisle impact upon return against Doncaster

With four minutes to go in the 90, the Irish centre-forward replaced Tyler Burey to try and help Carlisle get over the line against Rovers. The Blues had been under pressure for much of the second half. They couldn't get far out of their own box once they got possession, and struggled to retain it when they went long to 19-year-old Daniel Adu-Adjei up top.

Kelly immediately provided an outlet for Carlisle, instantly drawing Jay McGrath into fouling him, allowing United to get up the pitch for a free-kick.

As well as the ruled out goal, Kelly got himself into good positions to cause problems for Donny's defensive unit. He pounced on a loose touch from McGrath in the 89th minute but wasn't able to get himself into a good enough shooting position, and then got the defender sent off in the dying embers of the game, beautifully controlling a flighted ball up towards him which drew the foul.

Carlisle failed to convert from the resulting free-kick after a guided Sam Lavelle header was palmed away by the Rovers goalkeeper, but the impact of Kelly was clear. He made a real difference in his brief cameo, and that shouldn't be overshadowed by his slight error which ruled out Harper's effort.

His profile is completely different to Adu-Ajei's and Luke Armstrong's, which will give Williamson much more tactical flexibility. If he can stay fit, he'll be a real handful for League Two defenders.

Carlisle United must slowly embed Georgie Kelly back into the team

Since signing from Rotherham United last January, Kelly has played in 11 league matches for the Blues - five of them have been starts, but all of those came last season.

His injury record prior to joining Carlisle wasn't horrendous, but he was hurt when he arrived and has remained in that state for much of his tenure at Brunton Park.

Given his fitness struggles of late, there has to be extra caution applied to his return. Carlisle have plenty of options up top, so they won't need to rush the 28-year-old back for any reason. It should just be about slowly building things up for Kelly, who could be a real difference maker, providing his health holds up.