United boss John Sheridan spoke about what he expects to be another tough game ahead of the visit of Tranmere Rovers on Saturday afternoon as the Blues look to extend their unbeaten home league run.
“It’ll be a tough game, but they’re all tough,” he said. “I think it’s really small margins between the teams in this division and any team can beat any other at any time.
“I know Micky Mellon really well and he’s a great lad who’s been brilliant as a manager. He’s been fantastic since taking over at Tranmere, so it won’t be easy for us.
“Both sides like to get forward and attack, but I would hope Tranmere don’t create too many chances on Saturday! I’ll just concentrate on what we’re doing. In any game we go into I feel that if we’re at our game and doing what we’re good at, then we’ve got a good chance of winning.”
“They’re a team that always has good players and they always set up to be hard to beat,” he continued. “They’ve come off the back of a successful season, they were winning a lot of games last year, and they’ve shown themselves as a hard team to beat in this division.
“It’s a game where we’re at home and I expect us to perform well and win. Home form is vital if you want to get out of this league and we’ve started at Brunton Park in the way I wanted us to start.
“We want it to continue because it’s a massive plus for us to be getting points here. It means you can go away from home and look to add to it.
“We know if we win games on our own pitch people will be more positive in their outlook and they’ll come to see what’s going on. It’s hard for fans if their team isn’t winning, but I hope they jump on board with what we’re trying to do.
“I’m also hoping the way we’re playing does bring one or two more back because I know everybody wants their team to do well.”
“Our fans aren’t stupid and I think they’re starting to notice that we’re trying to play attractive football and we’re an entertaining team to watch, at times,” he continued. “Any Carlisle supporter wants to see their team winning, and we’re doing that at the moment.
“If we carry on with the form we’re showing the supporters will come back. It’s one of the reasons I came here, because I know they want the club to push on. There are probably a couple of thousand fans missing from the gate, so we’ve just got to try and keep winning games, which I think will attract people back.
“The more fans we’ve got in the crowd the better it is for us, because I’ve played here in front of big crowds and I know the sort of atmosphere they can create. Fans want to see a winning team more than anything else, and that’s what we’re trying to achieve.”
On sitting fourth in the table, albeit at this early stage of the season, he commented: “I think the fans have bought into the style of play we’re playing but I’m more pleased that the players have bought into it.
“They’ve got to take my ideas on board and take them onto the pitch, which they’ve done so far. It’s very early days, so I’m not going to get carried away with myself, but the confidence will spread throughout the club and into the city.
“People will look at the table and see that we’re fourth, but I’ll just concentrate on the team and on making sure we’re ready for the Tranmere game. Hopefully there will be a few more fans here and we’ll get the win we’re after. We’ll just take it week by week, at this moment in time we’re around where we want to be, and that’s all I’m thinking about at the moment.”
“The dressing room is good place to be at the moment, and that always comes when you’re winning games,” he concluded. “They’re enjoying the things we’re doing in training and it’s a happy place.
“No matter what line of work you’re in, if you’re coming in happy everything is better.”
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