Carlisle United Football Club

“They’re flying high at the moment and that’s because their manager has had time to put a very good squad together,” he said. “He would probably say they’ve been a little bit inconsistent with some of their results. 

“The games they win have been won comfortably, but they’ve raised a few eyebrows with some of the other results they’ve had. They have two strikers who have a good eye for goal and we will have to compete physically with them.”

“We could be catching them at a good time,” he added. “However, you could say that about any team at any time. It comes down to what you do on the day that matters.

“It was a long trip for us at the weekend but we trained a little bit later on Monday. That gives the players an extra hour or two and it’s something I’ve always done. It sits well with me. 

“That meant we could do a full session as normal and the players will be prepared for what will be a tough game. They’re where they are in the table for a reason but what I can guarantee our fans is that we will go out there and we’ll compete to win the three points.”

On United’s improved performances, he said: “I think we’ve had the reaction to a new manager coming in with the three positive results. 

“Now people will ask if there is a genuine belief that we will go out and compete. We’ll see that on Tuesday night because there will be a very committed effort to get the win. We do want to see more quality on the ball we than we got on Saturday.

“We didn’t do enough in open play in my opinion. We had opportunities to pass the ball forward into good areas but we didn’t do it. 

“We took the easy option by tossing it up to Mark Beck and that was unfair on him. We’re looking for more creativity because the centre forwards are only as good as the service they get. You can make fantastic runs and have good movement but it doesn’t look very pleasing to the eye if there’s nothing coming in for you. If we make chances in and round the box the strikers will start hitting the target.”