After Carlisle United went top of the league with a 2-0 win against FC Halifax Town, we spoke to Head Coach Mark Hughes.
Speaking to CUTV, he discussed overcoming early injury setbacks, a sublime Junior Luamba performance and looked ahead to the trip to Southend United at the weekend.
Here is everything we learnt:
A really pleasing, professional performance
“I was really pleased, really pleased with the performance, the level of control we had was excellent. From a manager and coaching perspective, it was as enjoyable as the result itself.
“People might not understand that, but for me, it was about the control; we were never in any danger of losing that game. They found it difficult to build any meaningful pressure or get into their game plan, so in terms of a professional job, it was really pleasing.”
Managing the game to a conclusion
“Maybe in the past we’ve struggled with that, we’ve got ourselves into good positions, but haven’t managed games out to a conclusion.
“I’m seeing more of that ability now, and that’s really important for us. We’ll always carry a threat, we’ll always look like scoring goals, but we’ve got to be able to keep the back door shut and see games through like we did tonight. Really pleasing on a lot of levels.”
Injury setbacks handled calmly
“It’s a real shame, Aaron (Hayden) felt something in the warm-up. We’re hopeful it’s nothing serious, maybe just a couple more days after his efforts at Reading.
“T’s (Terell Thomas) is more of a concern, unfortunately, that one didn’t look good from where I was standing. But credit to Jack Ellis, who came in at centre-half and was excellent. We weren’t compromised at all.”
Junior Luamba leads from the front
“We’ve been encouraging Junior (Luamba) in training because we see what he can do, his pace, his power, the ability to get strong shots away.
“We’ve been telling him to show that more in games, and he did that tonight. He was really effective all night against a good opponent. Not only did he hurt them going forward, but his defensive work was excellent, too. A really satisfying performance from him.”
The importance of balance
“You’ve got to have all the elements of your game, if we’re in positions where we’re managing games to a conclusion, everyone has to do their job going forward and going backwards. Everyone did that today.”
No drama
“There was no drama tonight, which is what I like; it wasn’t a game where the opposition had clear chances. Anything they tried to create, we anticipated and nullified.
“It was a really sound, professional performance. We wanted to be top of the league tonight, and we’ve managed that. Against good opposition who’ve taken points off good teams, we made it a straightforward game, really delighted.”
Top of the league and staying grounded
“I don’t think we should be scared of that; we’ve just got to go about our business. Teams around us have games in hand, but I’ve always said, I’d rather have points on the board.
“We’re trending really well, over two points a game, so if we maintain that, we’ll go very close.”
Back home and building momentum
“We’ve done some travelling, but it was a good night. The pitch stood up well, which is important at this time of year.
“As pitches deteriorate, that might affect other teams more than us because of our style of play.
“It’s an interesting league this year, a lot of teams doing well, ourselves included. We just have to keep going.”
Manager of the Month equals recognition for the group
“It’s just acknowledgement of how well everyone’s doing, players and staff included. It’s nice that people outside recognise that, but we just have to maintain our standards.”
Eyes on Southend United
“They’re a good team, the top 10 are all strong this year. We struggled a bit earlier against York and Rochdale, but we’ve improved a lot in those games against the top sides.
“If we perform like we did tonight, understanding what’s required and executing it, we’ll be fine.”
Keeping the momentum going
“Hopefully, the trains are back to normal. It’s always better to travel that way; it helps the players relax.
“Then we just adjust around the kick-off time.”
A good place to be
“Momentum’s huge, I say it all the time, we’re in a good place right now. We just have to keep it going.”
Watch the full interview on CUTV HERE!
