Former Carlisle and Tottenham defender Alex McQueen has joined the Blues on trial and is in the U23s team facing Barnsley at Oakwell this afternoon (free entry, KO 1pm).

McQueen, a 6ft 2½in tall right-sided full-back or central midfielder, is a free agent having turned down a deal with the Cumbrians after a successful season at Brunton Park in which he made 20 starts and six sub appearances without scoring.

The 21-year-old, who is the cousin of former Town striker Darren McQueen, joined the League Two side last summer having left Spurs where he had come through their academy but had been unable to break into the first team.

While at Spurs McQueen, who was linked with Premier League AFC Bournemouth over the summer, will have worked with Blues academy director Bryan Klug.

U23s: Crowe, McQueen, C Smith, Fowler, Webber, Blanchfield, Coke, McDonnell, Dozzell, McLoughlin, Morris. Subs: Marsden, Salaudeen, Downes, Patterson, Daniels.

Photo: Action Images

Steelmonkey added 13:00 - Sep 9 Murphy's replacement!
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Steelmonkey added 13:00 - Sep 9 Murphy's replacement!
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WicklowBlue added 13:01 - Sep 9 Insert avalanche of RB comments below....
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dawoolah added 13:02 - Sep 9 Hello?...Right Back. Sounds promising.
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BlueandTruesince82 added 13:03 - Sep 9 Cue hyper negativity when Mick says he sees him as more of a centre back
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BroskiBeen added 13:04 - Sep 9 Seems strange, can't see MM dropping Chambers or Knudsen and we have 3 good CB's strange.
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hoppy added 13:05 - Sep 9 Steelmonkey, saying it twice doesn't make it make any more sense, you do realise?
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Cambonbleu added 13:21 - Sep 9 Give a young lad a chance? Good news story surely? Didn't do us any hard with Tyrone Mings and this lad has alot more experience that TM did when we signed him
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ElderGrizzly added 13:25 - Sep 9 Wonder where he played those games for Carlisle? RIght back or Central Midfield? Could be cover for Hyam? Alternatively, he has more experience than Emmanuel. Could be a good signing to let Josh go out on loan in the January loan window
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Len_Brennan added 13:31 - Sep 9 This is interesting and bringing him in on trial is a sensible course of action. I'm not going back over the limitations of Chambo at RB, but the fact that MM is looking at adding a player who has pedigree from Spurs - who have had a number of decent full backs in recent years - and has obviously impressed at league 2 level, is encouraging. Many posters seem to assume that Josh Emmanuel is going to make it and are already calling for him to start games, but I'm not so sure. I would like to have seen him get some game time on loan at a lower level as he certainly has potential. Maybe his 'encouraging, but with errors' performances are no worse than Webster's have been and are to be expected of young lads breaking into the senior team at Championship level, but I would be a bit more hopefully about Kenlock on the other side so far. Good luck to McQueen, hope he does well & earns himself a deal.

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whosroundisitanyway added 13:32 - Sep 9 Looks like he's scored there?
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theipswichman added 13:33 - Sep 9 If he is brought in as backup to Chambo allowing Emmanuel to go on loan in January as MarcusEvansReborn said, then this would be a very good move. Emmanuel looked like he had a lot of potential when I saw him play last season so he needs games. Then on the flip side we would have signed a young full back who could also potentially turn into a decent player. Chambers is 30 so probably only has 3-4 years left in the first team and hopefully with a few loans Emmanuel would be ready by then.

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Surco72 added 13:43 - Sep 9 A full back released because he was behind the likes of Walker, Trippier .and some other young full backs that Spurs have does not make him a not wanted freebie , if Klug thinks he worth a look I would say it is well worth a go as however much heart and improvement Chambo has made a right back he is not
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Seasider added 14:20 - Sep 9 Interesting. Noticed that Adam Webster has played at right back but Mick sees him as a centre back,and this young man can also play in midfield.Presume however that he will play in the defence this afternoon presumably right back. It seems up to now that any potential right backs are only considered as back up to Chambers; as he will never be dropped from this position. However should he be injured at any time,not that I am wishing this on him,then it would be interesting to see what Mick would do. But good luck to the lad,and lets hope the inexperienced team he has out against Barnsley,unlike on Monday against Millwall,continue the good work.

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RoyalAscotBlue added 14:26 - Sep 9 Chambers is NOT A RIGHT BACK! The jury isn't still out on this... It's a fact. Just because he makes a pretty decent captain does not make up for his inability to play in that specific role. This is the weakest position in our team and it has been for years. I don't think that we have had a proper right back in the team since Fabian Wilnis played there, and that was a long long time ago. The fact that Mick is finally looking at options to address this issue is by far the most positive thing I have heard in recent times. Good teams have good fullbacks.

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PhilTWTD added 14:26 - Sep 9 whosroundisitanyway I knew someone would ask that! I checked, penalty shoot-out against Liverpool in the Capital One Cup.
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whosroundisitanyway added 14:42 - Sep 9 Thanks Phil. Guessed it was that game by the crowd. Doesn't look like a league two fixture!
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BlueNomad added 14:46 - Sep 9 Leatherhead - have you forgotten David Wright?
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RoyalAscotBlue added 15:05 - Sep 9 David Wright was OK I guess, and it was another one of the many mysterious things that Roy Keane did to destroy us when he got rid of him... So OK, we haven't had a proper right back for 6 years!
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gosblue added 16:06 - Sep 9 My tenant in Cumbria and the next door neighbours (not sheep) are all CUFC season ticket holders and they all rate him as too good for lower leagues.
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Len_Brennan added 16:43 - Sep 9 @gosblue: That's encouraging to hear & congratulations on the property portfolio.
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BlueandTruesince82 added 17:19 - Sep 9 Poor David Wright, well and truly done by Roy Keane, what did we get as a replacement? Darren O'dea on loan, that right there was the start of our RB problems
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ArnieMsBigToe added 17:36 - Sep 9 Thanks gosblue. This sounds very promising. Will certainly keep an eye on this lad!!
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jas0999 added 19:16 - Sep 9 Promising? A player who can't break into Carlisle team?
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BrettenhamBlue added 12:50 - Sep 10 Had a solid game vrs Barnsley u23.
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