Rob Elliot's Tactical Shift for Carlisle United's Attack

Rob Elliot thinks he has found a simple tweak that could change the look of Carlisle United’s attack: flip David Ajiboye.

The winger, so effective from the right in last season’s run-in under Mark Hughes, has spent pre-season operating from the left and is in line to start there against Worthing in today’s National League opener.

This isn’t a gimmick. It’s a plan.

Unlocking Both Sides of Ajiboye

Elliot has watched Ajiboye closely through the summer and sees a different threat emerging when the 27-year-old starts wide on the left.

“David's left-footed crossing is excellent. So when he goes to the byline, he's got that opportunity,” the head coach told the News & Star, highlighting the old-fashioned winger’s route to the outside.

But that’s only half the picture. Ajiboye also enjoys drifting infield, and from the left that movement pulls him onto his stronger right foot.

“We just felt like coming onto his right foot [from the left], which saw him score a few goals in pre-season, really suits him,” Elliot said.

The switch, then, gives Ajiboye two doors to walk through: hug the touchline and whip in with his left, or knife inside and look for goal on his right. Defenders suddenly have a decision to make, and usually a bad one.

A Front Line Built on Rotation

Elliot isn’t moving pieces around for the sake of it. Ajiboye’s new role feeds into a broader attempt to make Carlisle’s front line harder to read and harder to pin down.

“He's able to then open up the pitch on both sides,” Elliot explained. “He can go down the outside and he can come inside.”

That dual threat becomes even more dangerous when combined with the movement of Regan Linney and Georgie Kelly.

“We also like the rotation with Regan,” Elliot said. “David and Regan have rotated in and out of those positions when Regan's played up front with Georgie.”

The idea is clear: no fixed positions, no easy match-ups. If Ajiboye or Linney are starved of the ball for a spell, they are free to swap, drift, and ask a different question of their markers.

“It gives that flexibility for our forward players to not be locked down to one position,” Elliot said. If a team manages to shut down one side of Carlisle’s attack for “five or ten minutes”, as he put it, the forwards can simply reshuffle and attack from another angle.

“That way we cause more problems and give teams less time to adapt to what we're doing.”

Ajiboye may have built his reputation on the right under Hughes, but Elliot is convinced the left can bring out another level in him over 2026/27.

Inside Knowledge on Worthing

Today’s opponents add another intriguing layer to Ajiboye’s afternoon.

The Carlisle wide man knows Worthing boss Adam Hinshelwood as well as anyone in the Blues dressing room. The pair have worked together at three different clubs: in Brighton & Hove Albion’s academy, at Worthing, and again at York City.

Ajiboye is expected to shake off a back issue to feature, and if he does, his familiarity with Hinshelwood’s methods could be a subtle advantage.

On whether he will lean on that knowledge, Elliot said: “We'll have a chat.”

He doesn’t need Ajiboye to tell him that Hinshelwood’s sides want the ball and know what to do with it.

“The way his teams play are clear, and you can understand they're going to want to dominate the ball,” Elliot said. “They're not going to put it at risk unless it's through being creative.”

Carlisle have already seen what that looks like. “We saw what his team at York did. They were a brilliant team to watch, played some fantastic attacking football. He's gone to Worthing and nothing's changed.”

Elliot expects Worthing to be “an excellent team” and “cause a lot of problems”, a test of Carlisle’s organisation both in and out of possession. He wants his side “on our mettle” from the first whistle.

And if Ajiboye does get the nod on that left flank, with a new role and old knowledge of the man in the opposite dugout, Elliot is hoping for one more small edge in a game that already feels like a sharp early measure of Carlisle’s attacking evolution.