Newcastle United pair Alex Gilliead and Macaulay Gillesphey have extended their loans with Carlisle United to the end of the season.

Both have made five appearances so far for the Cumbrians and Keith Curle is delighted with the deal.

He said: “You can tell both lads have got ability. They've gone through the ranks at Newcastle and the next step in their progression was league football.

“They've joined a football club in ourselves which has one eye on youth development. That has been shown with recent youth team players who came through and played a lot of league football before moving up the divisions. These lads weren't brought in as projects.

“They were brought in because they added something to the squad we didn't have."