Carlisle United Football Club

“I think the three points on Saturday are three points we can get,” he said. “We're very respectful in our preparation because they are above us in the league. 

“They play the game how they want to play it and they've got a different style to what people will be used to in League Two. They're good at keeping the ball and they have bravery in their play, with a decent understanding of what the manager wants them to do. 

“We've got to nullify that threat and impose our style of play on them. That will make us difficult to beat but also give us the attacking edge we need. If we let them come here and play how they want to play it could be a long afternoon for us.” 

“I've got a lot of respect for Paul Tisdale,” he added. “Any manager who can keep their job for as long as he has must be respected. 

“I think the average lifespan of a manager in League One and Two is something like one year and seven days. He's had that job for almost nine years, so he's obviously doing something right. 

“He'll have a good relationship with the fans, and the people in charge of the club, and that's something every manager wants to have. He also has to have a good relationship with the local press. They were in the bottom three or four after ten games, but everybody stuck with him and they went on that charge up the table.”

“When I first came into the club Exeter had the same sort of points tally as us and they went on a fantastic run,” he commented. “They moved up to challenging for the play off positions and they were in really good form.

“They then sold a player for over a million [Matt Grimes to Swansea City] and that does have an impact. Losing one of your key players will have an affect on any team, but they still make themselves hard to beat. I think if you’d told them they’d be in a comfortable position at this stage of the season they’d have taken it.”

“Tuesday night has given us a springboard but the players know they were a little bit tense,” he said. “They came up like for like against a team that didn’t want to make mistakes in key areas.

 

“Hopefully the result will mean we’ll see an even more positive approach. We have to remember we have young players, playing in a fragile situation, and they’re still getting used to it.

“It was a horrible night on Tuesday but the fans were fantastic. It was geared up for a solid away performance and Cheltenham came here to keep the crowd quiet and make the fans restless. It didn’t happen, and we actually had everyone cheering almost every tackle. 

“Let’s have that again because it does spread through the terraces and the team. We have young players out there who want to play in an environment where everything they do is appreciated. The players in that changing room, and myself, are the only ones who can get us out of this. But we need the backing of everyone else connected with the club to go with it. Most important in all of that are our supporters. They have a huge part to play and, as I say, they’re doing just that.”