It’s almost become a policy over the past few weeks not to focus too much on games in hand, or the league table, with still 20 games to be played and 60 points to be contested for.
Speaking more this week about the job in hand, manager Chris Beech said: “We're in the sport to compete, make sure we're competitive and do well, and we're doing that.
“If we stick to the traits and values of what we’ve often talked about they’ll look after us. We're now in a position to attack 20 games and all we can do is do our best, and that's all we want to do.
“We’ve all trained ourselves over the years to look for games in hand and how other teams do. Being in football, it comes with the environment. I just know we’ve got 20 games, but you can’t play 19 of them until you’ve played the next one.
“We’ve got Oldham on Saturday, so we need to understand their strengths and what we’re good at, is there a guarantee of winning, no, shall we give everything towards our opportunity, yes, and we want to represent our supporters and club while they can’t share the experiences with us.
“We want to make sure we stick to our traits, cultures and the environment we’ve created. It meets that honest, hard-working Carlisle spirit. Our team have to represent that.”
With the lads not quite getting the result they deserved on Tuesday, he insisted that the time for dwelling on it had gone, and it had to be a case of getting on with the next challenge.
“We’ve got to understand and acknowledge what’s happened, but we have to move on as everybody does in different circumstances of life,” he commented. “You move on from that point.
“Living in the past, it can’t gain anything now. I’m just really pleased with how the lads have dealt with it on and off the pitch. They’ve been together on it, have shown great team spirit to respond, they’re looking to me like they’re back to where they want to be.
“If anything, I thought our attacking prowess the other night was better than it has been. On Tuesday, I said the goals we’ve conceded in those two games came when we’re in great control and an ascendant position.
“The turnover and all the goals are from long passes. It even includes Forest Green’s goals, the penalty situation a bit of a punt up front, drive into the box and penalty given away. Sometimes that just happens in a game, but I would like to make a bit more control to it because it gives us more control on our results.”
And having control on their own results naturally means that what happens elsewhere to other teams is largely irrelevant, particularly with so many games left to play.
“Other results have got nothing to do with us, all we need to do is concentrate on what we're very good at,” he reiterated. “If you look at the opposition managers comments about the other day, they know that they had a get out of jail free card with that goal just before half time.
“Then they’ve scored late on with a sting in the tail, but these things happen in football. We’ve got 20 games left, and looking at the other games we’ve played already I don't think we’ve gained points in a game where we didn’t deserve it.
“We’ve earned every point that’s come our way, but if something falls for us in the future, we’ll take it.”
But he conceded that there is a feeling that people want to see the club push on and complete the job, with something tangible to show at the end of it.
“It’s a little bit like being the underdog, or everybody else’s favourite club if you’re not associated with Carlisle, you’re doing something that nobody envisaged,” he told us. “That’s great credit to everybody’s efforts, everyone that’s supported me on and off the pitch, but ultimately it means nothing at this point too.
“While I remain respectful of every opponent we play, I really respect the sport we work in and can continue to work in at these ridiculous times. I understand our supporters and what they want and what they feel about their club, and that includes me, my players, even the chairman.
“You can’t get somebody who’s been at a club for so many years; it was here before him, it will be here after him, it’s always in my opinion a supporters’ club, we just have to stick to our honest, hard-working traits. What will be will be, but at least we can share it with values.”
