Keeper Magnus Norman made his first league appearance for the club on Tuesday night as he took the late notification that he would be stepping up to face Mansfield Town at the One Call Stadium in his stride.
Speaking about the confident display from his keeper, Chris Beech said: “I’m just so pleased for him, he had a great game.
“You don’t need me to tell you we’ve got a hard-working, honest squad. There’s no stand-out individual that’s significantly better than anyone else. We have a great attitude to working hard and representing Carlisle United to the best of our abilities.
“The goalkeeping unit, we recruited two very good lads, different ends of the spectrum of age, I suppose. I knew Magnus from coming on loan at Rochdale, and he wants to start his career.
“He’s bought a flat in Carlisle, committed to the area, signed a two-year deal, took a wage drop to sign for us, it’s just commendable really.
“It means more, because you connect to the sacrifice he’s made to join us, and the patience he’s had to show in being professional to play. As a goalkeeper it must be so difficult. As an outfield player, as a substitute, an attacker, you’re likely to get on.
“As a defender you’re likely not to. As a goalkeeper it’s generally definite that you really don’t.”
With a stunning save under his belt, there was real frustration that there was a speel where the bog stopper didn’t seem to get any protection at all.
“He was whacked and impeded in the build-up to that superb save, and same again just before their free kick was given,” the gaffer told us. “That’s just so frustrating for him and us.
“What a great performance he had, he was excellent, even with being unprotected from the ref. If you think about it, he gets a call from Steve Collis at half twelve to say that Paul Farman isn’t available and he’s playing.
“Full credit to him for the attitude he showed. He’s had to be patient and he was excellent.”
And on the injury which ruled Paul Farman out, he said: “It’s not too much, he just felt something a little bit in training on Monday, near the end, and he’s honest enough to say he’s not 100 per cent.
“Any player who is out there needs to be at full capacity, because we want to be winning games. Every fixture is tight anyway, so you need to be able to perform to your maximum.
“It’s a slight strain, it’s nothing major, but we’ll just have to see day by day. You cannot fault, and this goes to every single player that’s stepped into the team since I got here, debuts, performances, and the way they slot in and apply themselves.
“It’s fantastic for a manager to have that from his group. Look at young Gabriel, a youth player coming onto the bench – he took it as a breeze.”
