United head to Newport on Tuesday night looking for the spark to ignite their season as they find themselves in an uncomfortable situation at the bottom end of the division.
“None of us want to be where we are and it’s not a nice feeling as a supporter or as an employee of Carlisle United,” caretaker manager Gav Skelton said. “We’ll keep working with the lads because they have it in them, we know that.
“It’s about confidence, and that’s something you can’t really coach. We’ve worked a lot on certain things to try and give them that confidence.
“We saw on Saturday that at 1-0 we got a really good chance but it hit the keeper. On another day it hits the inside of the leg and goes in, but every team that’s lost will have an excuse or reason for it.
“It wasn’t to be on Saturday, we have to keep going, working hard and keeping that belief amongst themselves. To do that you have to identify areas where we have to be better without hammering them.
“Positives, I thought we were solid at the back, and apart from the penalty I can’t remember Mark making a save or there being that many attempts on our goal.
“If we keep going and do more of the right things it will fall, we’ll get a break or a bit of quality or confidence, or a mistake. Something will break and it’s amazing how it kicks on from there.”
And on the lack of goals from recent league fixtures, he commented: “Of course it’s a worry, we haven’t scored in the last four games, and nobody will ever be happy about that.
“But I do believe it will come. We’ve got enough forward players. I know I keep saying this, but once we get one it’s amazing how they’ll start rolling in.
“It was all ifs, buts and maybes on Saturday, with the ball bobbling around the box, and we were in good areas on a number of occasions. That’s why it’s disappointing that we only had the one clear-cut chance.
“That fell to Jordan and he’ll be alright. He was really bright in the first half. When it went to him you felt that buzz that something might happen, you thought he might get the goal his performance deserved.”
Looking next at Newport and Rodney Parade, he said: “It’s another good game. We’ll look at how they play, we’ll try and take the positives out of the Tranmere game, one of which was how well we defended, and we’ll try to instil some confidence to get a goal.
“It’s a game where we want energy in the team, if that means changes, we’ll have a look at that. Some lads are chomping at the bit, if they get an opportunity great.
“If we go with a bit of consistency, that’s something I’ll chew on over the weekend. Again, I’ve said this before, it’s the responsibility of the players to find the confidence within the way they play.
“It comes down to who wants to grab it by the scruff of the neck and really be that one that smashes it in. Once they start to gamble and do that, it will seem better and things will start dropping.
“There is a lot going on at the moment but that’s nothing to do with the players or the games. We’ll just keep talking about the game.
“It’s up to them to concentrate on the game, that’s the only thing that’s important. If they get affected by other stuff, that’s their responsibility as professional footballers.”
