Following a 3-1 defeat to Hartlepool United, we spoke to Carlisle United captain Morgan Feeney.
Speaking to CUTV, Feeney discussed the result, the impact of early goals, the importance of reflection, and the togetherness within the group.
Here is everything we learnt:
1. Immediate disappointment
“It's quite fresh at the minute, obviously coming off the game. We were disappointed as a group in there.
"It wasn't the performance that we wanted tonight or the result; we firmly believed we could come here and get a good result. The good form we've been on, the good results we've been picking up and the performances we've been putting in, we're disappointed.”
2. Quick reflection, quick response
“We need to draw a line under it quickly, and that's not me standing here saying that it doesn't matter or we don't care.
"That just means we need to go again for the weekend because we've got a game in a couple of days' time. So we need to reflect quick, put it to bed and make sure it doesn't happen again.”
3. Early setback
“The early goal for them sets us back, takes the wind out of our sails a bit. We've been good at that lately, where we soak up a little bit of pressure, and we come out the traps, and teams worry about that a little bit because we're dangerous in that sense.
"But the goal sets us back, and the other two goals just kill us in the end.”
4. Fine margins
“Maybe if a couple of other things went our way, we had a couple of chances there from set plays and a couple in the first-half, maybe it could have been a different game.
"But at the end of the day, we were disappointed with the performance, and we put all our energy into the weekend.”
5. Away challenges
“It's difficult any away game, teams want to beat us. Teams view us as a massive game, rightly so.
"We're a massive club, and teams step up against us. You get a goal against us, the crowd more often than not picks themselves up because they feel like they could be on for a massive result."
6. Struggling for control
“Even when we went a goal down, we felt calm. We felt like we were one or two passes away from making the right pass and carving out the right opportunity.
"But we concede early again after half-time, which puts us on the back foot even more. We'll pick the bones out of it, and we'll go again.”
7. Down to ten men
“It's tough, obviously, against any team. Going down to ten men, I thought the lads dug in.
"We looked dangerous on a few set plays, we loaded the box, but at the end of the day, we're disappointed, and we're going to look at it properly and make sure we put it right.”
8. For the travelling support
“The fans cherish this kind of game, and we're disappointed that we couldn't get a result for them. They stuck with us, and we really appreciate that.
"Keep backing us because there's still a good chunk of games to go and we'll be going right to the very end.”
9. Turning attention to the weekend
“We need to recover quickly. We'll look at the game, we'll look at Eastleigh, we'll see what they're good at, what they're not so good at, and we'll come up with a game plan, recharge the legs and give us more fuel in the fire to go again.”
10. Togetherness in the group
“It’s a great group. We've got a good knack in this squad of keeping that togetherness.
"We'll come in, we'll pull together as a whole unit, the staff will come up with a good game plan for us, and we'll go again.”
