Kurtis Guthrie captured the limelight for Colchester United at the weekend with his hat-trick – but Carlisle United manager Keith Curle identified another U’s striker for praise following his side’s 4-1 loss at the Weston Homes Community Stadium.

Curle revealed he had tried to sign Chris Porter in the past for the Cumbrians and said he was impressed by the experienced U’s striker’s fine all-round performance, which he capped with the opening goal of the game.

Curle said: “On reflection, I think you can understand why I wanted to bring Chrissy Porter to the football club.

“I thought he showed exactly what you want from a centre-forward of this level.

“It was good build-up from him and he won his battle and his contest and scored a good goal.

“I think that identifies that we are looking in the right areas for players and the qualities of one of the players we did try to get were obvious.”