Carlisle United Football Club

“This is bound to be a tough test because you just have to look at where they are in the league,” he said. “This is the first time we’ve faced a team who aren’t around about us in the table. 

“They’re winning games in the right way, by keeping a clean sheet, so they do have strengths. We think we’ve identified a few weaknesses we think we can exploit on the day so we go there feeling confident. “Patrick Brough will play at left back this weekend.

“They’ve got a goal threat in Reuben Reid. I know him well, I took him when I was manager at Torquay, and he is a player who has good attributes. He has a strong, physical presence and he has an eye for goal.”

“The preparation for this weekend started at full time on Saturday,” he told us. “It can all become about how you prepare for a long journey. If you sit there thinking it’s a long way then, have a guess what – it’s a long way. 

“We’ll have different pick up points and there’ll be different things we do on the coach to ease the burden of the fact that it is a long journey. We’ll be setting off at 7am, so it’ll be an early start for some of the lads, but I don’t like to rush anything. We’ll go then so we get down there as early as possible. 

“We’re taking two drivers, so we don’t have to stop for the 45 minutes, and it means we will get down there relatively quickly. There’ll be an expectation meeting after the meal on Friday night so the players can familiarise themselves with what we expect from the game. Saturday morning will then be about us and what we’re going to bring to the table, both individually and collectively.”

“Sometimes it’s a case of mentally taking the players away from just sitting there and watching other cars go by,” he said. “I do like my players to be entertained and enthused mentally and sometimes that can be with something as simple as a game of bingo. We’ll do what we can to make the trip as small a burden as possible for the lads and then we’ll go out there to get a result from the game.”

On the game itself, he said: “I enjoy going into people’s back yards and upsetting them. I had 22 consecutive away games unbeaten at Notts County so that shows I do enjoy travelling.

 

“I tend to evaluate their strengths, give them the respect they deserve, and then find their weaknesses. Every team in League Two has a weakness. First and foremost, as we say, we need to stop them from playing before we go on to play our game. 

“At the moment the mindset is to go toe to toe with everyone and find the weaknesses. We’ve got a strike force that is hungry, and they’re starting to believe in themselves, and we’re finding that we’re playing to each others strengths as a team.”

“They’re a team which will mirror their manager,” he continued. “He was a very good player who enjoyed winning. He stands on the sidelines and demands a lot from his players. I quite like that because it brings a competitive edge. They’ll be tenacious, capable and competitive and they also like to play football in the right way, so it should be a very good game.”