Unlocking David Ajiboye: A Tactical Shift for Carlisle United

Rob Elliot thinks the key to unlocking David Ajiboye this season might be as simple as flipping the pitch.

The Carlisle United winger, so effective off the right in the second half of last season under Mark Hughes, has spent pre-season attacking from the opposite flank. Now he is poised to start on the left in today’s National League opener against Worthing, a small tweak that Elliot believes could have big consequences for the 27-year-old’s game in 2026/27.

A winger turned inside out

This isn’t a gimmick. It’s a calculated shift based on what Elliot has seen through the summer.

“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, outlining the logic behind the change.

The other part of the equation is just as important. Ajiboye, naturally, wants to drift infield. On the right, that tendency often takes him away from his stronger side. On the left, it brings him on to his right foot in dangerous areas – a pattern that has already paid off in pre-season, where he has found the net cutting inside.

Switching flanks gives him both worlds. The traditional winger’s lane down the outside to whip crosses in with his left. The modern wide forward’s angle inside, onto his right, to shoot.

For Elliot, it’s about more than one player’s comfort zone. It’s about reshaping Carlisle’s front line into something harder to read.

Fluid front line

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

That dual threat feeds into a broader plan. Elliot wants movement, not markers. Interchange, not fixed roles.

“We also like the rotation with Regan [Linney],” he explained. Across pre-season, Ajiboye and Linney have swapped and overlapped when Linney has partnered Georgie Kelly up front, drifting in and out of each other’s zones rather than staying nailed to one channel.

“It gives that flexibility for our forward players to not be locked down to one position,” Elliot said.

The idea is simple: if a wide player goes quiet for five or ten minutes – Ajiboye, Linney, anyone – they are not trapped. They can rotate, seek the ball in new spaces, ask different questions.

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

It is a small tactical wrinkle, but one that can quickly stretch a back four. Defenders who think they’ve worked Ajiboye out on the left suddenly find him popping up inside, or switching with Linney. By the time they adjust, the picture has changed again.

Inside track on Worthing

Ajiboye’s role today is not just tactical. It’s also tactical intelligence.

The winger, expected to shake off a back issue to feature, knows Worthing boss Adam Hinshelwood as well as anyone in the Carlisle dressing room. Their paths have crossed three times: first in Brighton & Hove Albion’s academy, then when Hinshelwood signed him for Worthing, and again at York City.

That history gives Carlisle a useful reference point heading into the opener.

“We'll have a chat,” Elliot said when asked if he would tap into Ajiboye’s knowledge.

He already has a clear picture of what to expect from a Hinshelwood side. “The way his teams play are clear, and you can understand they're going to want to dominate the ball. They're not going to put it at risk unless it's through being creative.”

Carlisle have seen it up close. “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.”

So Elliot is under no illusions about the test ahead.

“They're going to be an excellent team. They're going to cause a lot of problems. So it's a really good test for us because we'll have to be on our mettle in terms of with the ball and without the ball.”

And Ajiboye? His familiarity with Hinshelwood’s methods could be a quiet advantage on a day when margins will matter.

“Hopefully with David, because he knows it, it'll give him that edge as well if he's on the pitch.”

A winger on the “wrong” side, a coach he knows inside out, and a system built on rotation. For Ajiboye and Carlisle, the left flank suddenly looks like the most interesting place on the pitch.