By Jon Colman

Last updated 10:33, Saturday, 06 September 2008

CROCKED midfielder Chris Lumsdon has spoken of his fears for his future at Carlisle United as he recovers from the worst injury of his career.

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Chris Lumsdon

Lumsdon is sidelined until November with a back injury and the 28-year-old – out of contract next July – worries that competition for places is now so intense that he may not get back in the side this season.

The former Sunderland and Barnsley man will again be a frustrated observer at Brunton Park tomorrow when United tackle Southend (kick-off 3pm).

“You think you might not get another game because the lads are doing so well,” Lumsdon said. “The competition is so strong now and that’s a good thing, because it makes everyone play that much better. But it does mean you’ve got less chance of getting back in the team if the lads are up there in the league.

“I’m out of contract at the end of the season so it’s a bit worrying that way.”

Lumsdon said personal tragedies this summer – the deaths of his uncle Paul Viggor and Kelly Gourlay, girlfriend of team-mate Peter Murphy – have put his own misfortune in perspective.

“I wouldn’t have coped that well with it if I was younger,” he said. “But the things that happened over the summer make you realise you’ve got no right to moan. There are worse things happening in the world.”

The influential player, who has been at United since 2004, revealed the bizarre sequence of events which followed him suffering the injury which would rule him out of the first three months of Carlisle’s season.

“Usually whenever I got this pain at the top of my right leg, a massage would sort it out,” he said.

“I came on in the friendly against Partick Thistle and it felt all right, but then suddenly it just went and I had to lie down on the bus home..”

“Then we got the emergency doctor in, but he put the injection in the wrong side so I was still in pain all day.”

After a session with United’s sports masseur Faz Page, Lumsdon attempted to train but pulled up again.

A scan revealed the extent of the injury, which required an injection and then a three-month lay-off.