Interest in Carlisle job mounting

Carlisle have received 75 applications for the vacant manager's role at Brunton Park.

The Cumbrians are looking for a new boss after sacking Graham Kavanagh last week following their winless start to the season. West Ham number two Neil McDonald was linked with a return to the club he managed eight years ago, but reports in Carlisle claim he is now unlikely to take the job. Therefore caretaker bosses Tony Caig and Paul Thirlwell are set to take charge against Bury on Saturday as the board continue to sift through the applicants. Managing director John Nixon told the club website: "I said last Friday that we hoped to have a good idea of who we were leaning towards by the time we played Bury on Saturday, but the process is taking a little bit longer than anticipated. "We're comfortable with that because we want to be as thorough as we possibly can be as we consider every aspect of what is an extremely important decision. We now have 75 applications, with some extremely strong candidates, and I think it's only fair for all concerned that we look at each and every one of them in as much detail as possible. "We have Tony Caig and Paul Thirlwell running team affairs at the moment and we have been delighted with the way they have handled that side of things for us. They are happy to continue overseeing the first-team training and matchday requirements as we seek to finalise the appointment of our new first-team manager."