Carlisle sign defender Williams on short-term deal

Ben Williams has made 118 senior appearances in his career so far with Barnsley and Cheltenham

Carlisle United signed left-back Ben Williams on a short-term deal until January 2025.

The former Wales Under-21 international will provide some defensive cover with the several players struggling for full fitness.

Williams began his career at Barnsley before spending the last two and a half seasons in League One with Cheltenham Town.

“We’ve hit a bit of a problem this week with Cameron Harper and Taylor Charters both suffering from persistent niggles they’ve had," said boss Paul Simpson.

"They both dropped out of training on Tuesday so we were put in a position where we needed to make a signing."

With Simpson keen to build a squad capable of mounting a sustained challenge for promotion in League Two this season, he said Williams "jumped" at the chance to make the trip north.

"Credit to him, because we’ve enquired about lots of players over recent weeks and I sometimes get the feeling they don’t actually want to play football," he said.

"Ben jumped at the opportunity, he loved the thought of it and he wanted to come up and play.”

The deal went through in time for Williams to make an immediate debut in Saturday's 4-1 defeat by Gillingham.