Carlisle United Football Club

“I’m here to win games and get points on the table,” he said. “We have a style of play we’re trying to introduce and we’re hoping that will bring entertainment and excitement. I think people will agree that’s how it has been so far.

“As we saw with Barnet, the opposition are well within their rights to counter how we play. Every team will come here and use the weapons they have against us. It’s down to us to deal with it.”

“The goals we scored on Saturday were very pleasing and a continuation of what we’ve been doing,” he added. “If the chairman has seen how high Tom Miller jumped for his header I don’t think he’ll be hiring a cherry picker ever again! He’ll have Tom painting the top of the stands just by leaping. The delivery from Danny [Grainger] for that goal is something they’ve been working on in training. It was good to see Tom arrive late and out-jump the defender. 

“Derek Asamoah showed good composure and movement for his first goal and his second shows the strength we’ve got in the squad. We brought Alexander McQueen on and he got a fantastic through ball from Luke Joyce. He created the type of chance strikers love and that is really good to watch. 

“Derek getting his goals shows that all of our attacking options aren’t just centred on Jabo Ibehre. If people are only paying attention to him they should also be mindful of what Derek Asamoah and our other strikers can do. We’re not a one-man goal machine because we’re a side which has good attacking options. If our forwards aren’t scoring they are still contributing in other ways, and that’s important.”

“It wasn’t a day for Jabo Ibehre to get his goals but the way he played is one of the reasons why he’s been brought here,” he explained. “On too many occasions last season, in encounters like this, the ball came back at us far too quickly and without any kind of delay or input from us. 

“He covered a lot of miles on Saturday to play his role for the team. The willingness from him to defend and then get up the other end and create space for others was excellent.”

Meanwhile the manager admitted that the number of goals conceded was a cause for frustration.

“We’re developing a system which sometimes leaves us with the potential to be over exposed," he said. "We addressed that at half time when we told our wing backs to be in a position, when out of possession, to carry out their defensive responsibilities as well. 

"They have to do that to prevent our back three from becoming spread out. It’s something we will continue to work on. I did have people in the paddock asking me why I wasn’t using Troy Archibald-Henville. 

“He’s actually injured, so you can’t use someone who isn’t available. He would have been ideal in a game like that but if he’s carrying an injury you can’t do much about it.

“He has a problem which is unrelated to his knee issues and we’re hoping he’ll only be a week or ten days away from being back with us. I have to say that he’s been available for more training time and game time this season than he has been for a long time, and he is managing himself really well.”

And on the potential for moves within the loan market, which opens for business tomorrow, he said: “We’ve got permission to speak to one player and we’re waiting for permission to speak to the other one. 

“He actually scored a goal during midweek and his team picked up two two injuries, so the situation has changed with him. He’s no longer available to leave his current club until they are able to get more bodies into their squad. We’ll keep an eye on that and we’ll keep doing the work we feel we need to do.

“Part of what we do recruitment wise is to continually look at all areas to help us improve. We do have priorities but we’re looking for development in every area all the time.”