Ahead of the trip to Reading in the Emirates FA Cup, we spoke to Carlisle United Head Coach Mark Hughes.
Speaking to CUTV, he discussed his experience watching from the stand at Yeovil Town, the importance of momentum in a season and the challenge the Royals provide.
Here is everything we learnt:
1. The right response
“On the day, I thought we had a good response when we went behind; it was important that we took something out of the game, so we were able to do that. We probably didn't deserve to win on the day, but we didn't deserve to lose either, I felt.
“A difficult journey, a long way to go, came back with something; we have to be reasonably satisfied with that.”
2. Momentum is the key
“Momentum is huge in football, and whenever we've had a setback, we had a couple of poor results and performances, but we've bounced back again, and we had a similar situation there when we had a negative result earlier in the season.
“That's the response I'm looking for, that's what I want to see. You can't afford to dwell on games that have gone by too long, you've just got to get on with the next one and look forward, and that's what we've tried to do.”
3. A different matchday viewpoint
“Well, it was different, I didn't like it, it was a nightmare.
“I'd much rather be there on the touchline, you're just more engaged and okay, you can see things from a different angle and maybe have a different perspective on it, but the reality is you need to be closer to it and get your message over quickly.”
4. Up for the cup
“It's an opportunity, it's a free hit for us really, I mean everybody understands the priority this year is to get out of this league, but the FA Cup is a great distraction, competition that has been very good to me, both as a player and as a manager, had some great times, great moments.
“I'll never disrespect the competition because it's been so good to me; we'll look forward to it.”
5. Preparation uncertainty
“It's a little bit difficult to prepare, there was a surprise midweek with them changing managers, and so it's a little bit difficult for us in terms of the detail of the game, like we normally like to give to the guys, because obviously we're not quite sure which way they'll go.
“But a number of our staff have worked with Leam (Richardson) before, and we'll have an idea of what his preferences are, so maybe that gives us a little bit more of an insight than we would have if we didn't know him as a manager.”
6. A chance to make a statement
“It's an opportunity to test yourself if you go up against good opposition, opposition that's in a different league to you, metaphorically, I suppose, but sometimes that's not always the case in terms of performance when you go head-to-head.
“It's a test for us, but (we) enjoy going up against good teams.”
7. Recognition is a collective effort
“It's nice when people recognise that maybe they think we're doing things in an okay way, obviously it's result dependent and we've had good results, and so it's not a surprise in that regard, but I don't hold too much sway on individual awards if they come along.
“Clearly, it's a collective thing, the staff here and the players have been great since I walked through the door, so it'd be a recognition for them rather than me.”
8. Always grateful to the supporters
“Last weekend it was hard enough for us to get down there, but to get to have, I think it was 400, 500 of our fans down there, it was a huge effort.
“We're always grateful, we're not surprised because it happens every time we have an away match, but we never take it for granted.”
Watch the full interview on CUTV HERE!
