There was a bit of a scare with just over 15 minutes left to play at the Abbey Stadium on Saturday afternoon when vice-captain Aaron Hayden tumbled to the floor, bringing physio Ross Goodwin onto the pitch to administer treatment.
Manager Chris Beech explained: “Aaron was a little bit dizzy and he was seeing a black spot, so I’m not sure what that was.
“It was a hot day where he wasn’t getting what he wants, but you can’t question his commitment. We’ll look after him and make sure he’s good for next Saturday.
“To be honest, that’s what we need to do as a group. It’s always a long journey home when you lose so you recover, look at the game, look at the goals we conceded and look at the way we’ve played, and at the chances we created, compared to their chances.
“From there we continue to do the things we believe in and we plan our training sessions accordingly.
“Last week’s preparation and training was excellent, the best it’s been since I’ve been at Carlisle United, but we need to take that into games and make sure we take our chances when they come.”
Also missing was midfielder Dean Furman, who picked up a hamstring niggle during the Oldham away game.
“He’s not that far away,” the manager told us. “With a bit of luck he’ll be training on Tuesday. If he is with us we’ll suddenly have a much better bill of health and that in itself encourages training sessions full of commitment and energy.
“We want to maintain the positive environment because that will allow the players to feel better about what they’re doing.
“Of course confidence can take a hit if results go against you, there’s always that danger, and that’s why we have to continue to do things in the right way.
“The travel, the hotel and the way we trained and prepared for Cambridge was all excellent, so it’s about believing in what you’re trying to achieve and making sure you’re ready to do it. That’s what we’ll be doing again this week.”
