New Crawley forward Alex Battle could make his first start for the club in Saturday’s Sky Bet League Two clash with Carlisle.

Battle, who has signed from Truro on a one-year deal, made his debut off the bench in last weekend’s 1-0 defeat at Bristol Rovers.

Star striker Tom Nichols made his comeback from injury against Rovers and is expected to continue up front against Carlisle.

Crawley are contending with an injury crisis in defence with Jordan Tunnicliffe, Harry Ransom, Ludwig Francillette and Tom Dallison in the treatment room.

Carlisle are close to full strength for their journey south with only Danny Devine ruled out.

Devine has not played since August 31 – his only appearance of the season – because of a hamstring injury.

Boss Chris Beech has revealed that Devine is likely to need another week before returning to action.

“We’ve actually trained very hard because having no game gave us an opportunity to do a bit more,” Beech said.