Carlisle United boss Chris Beech says the club have lined up some "good" friendlies which he hopes supporters will be able to watch at Brunton Park.

The Blues have not confirmed the identity of any of their pre-season opponents to far.

But head coach Beech says games are being lined up.

“We’ve got the majority of pre-season training and the friendlies sorted,” he said.

“We’ve got some good friendlies, hopefully a couple at home, but we’re just waiting for confirmation on all of that before we announce.

“We’ll hopefully be able to share the home games with the supporters, depending on the pitch work that is going on and the situation with the virus.

"I’m hopeful of having what I would consider a normal pre-season.

“Last year we were only allowed to train in groups of five to start with, we weren’t allowed to shower here and nobody was allowed to stay in the club houses. Logistically that throws up massive problems because we need quality training sessions. Hopefully those barriers won’t be there and we can just crack on.”

Beech, ahead of United's final game of the season against Walsall tomorrow, has not held a press conference this week, but spoke on the club's website.

The Carlisle boss, about to conclude his first full season in charge with United in 10th place, said he feels his team "deserved" to have achieved more in the League Two table.

The Blues topped the league in January before a mid-season Covid-19 and postponement-enforced disruption saw them fall down the division.

“The players have also had a lot to deal with,” he said.

“I’m obviously disappointed we couldn’t gain something to celebrate as a group because I feel like we deserve it with the effort they’ve put in.

“We’ll finish 10th now, we can’t change that, but we can try and gain another three points and look after the home record.

"They deserve a well done but it’s obviously tinged with disappointment because of how we’ve gone about the season.”

Beech said his United players will have learned from the tough experiences they have faced this term, saying: "I think they’ll be better going forward at dealing with catch-up and anxiety, because it definitely did come into the team.

“When you’re in a rush to regain something that has been taken off you, mistakes then become a bigger issue, especially when you can’t get into any rhythm of what you’re doing.

“In our last 12 games, with one still to play, I’ve seen a growth in dealing with discrepancies and setbacks. We’ve also got back up to speed in terms of the physical stats and played more football."

He said United's run of regular midweek action since early February, which only just came to an end this week, has been "hard, mentally and physically".

“I’m proud of the way we went about that and that we made sure we became harder to beat, but I do want us to win more games and be more successful, irrelevant of everything or anything that is thrown at us," he added.

“The players need commended for the efforts they’ve put into that, and I hope they reflect those efforts in the game against Walsall.”