MANAGER: It put everyone in the right frame of mind

“I’ve spoken before about the way we prepare for long away trips and this was another occasion where we got things just right,” he said. “I have to say a big thank you to club sponsors Virgin Trains for helping with that.

“They stepped in to give us the option of using their West Coast service to get to London, and they were fantastic with us from the moment we got on the train.”

“We like to do things differently with the lads, whenever we can, because it keeps them on their toes,” he added. “Obviously most of the away trips we have involve the team bus, which is an excellent way to travel in itself. But this allowed us to mix things up a bit, and I know the players really appreciated it.

“We were able to set off fairly early on Friday morning and we were in London by lunch time. That meant we could get to the hotel, get ourselves sorted out and then go through the normal Friday routine of preparing for the game with a full training session, and with the other exercises we do - on and off the training pitch.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all of the staff at Virgin Trains, in Carlisle and on board, for the way they made us feel so welcome. As I say, it set things off nicely for us and put everyone in the right frame of mind for what was an important weekend.

“It’s certainly something I would look to do again in the future, if it was at all possible.”

On the work being done this week to recruit new players, he said: “It’s obviously something we’re working very hard on. 

“We know what we want and we’ll keep talking to the clubs and players involved to try to make things happen. I said on Saturday we’d missed out on a few and they’ve had their reasons for that. We’ll keep putting in the miles and the time until we get over the line with the players we want to see here.”

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Discount can be used for two people per season ticket holder and can be used on any day, not just a match day! 

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