Louis Storey says Carlisle United must respond after admitting the performance in the defeat at Eastleigh was below the standards expected at the club.
The Blues suffered a disappointing 1-0 defeat in Hampshire, with the Assistant Head Coach acknowledging that United were unable to produce the quality, energy and resilience required across the 90 minutes.
He said: "I’m really disappointed with the performance and the result.
"Quite frankly, it’s not what the manager or the staff, the players or the football club expect in terms of output of our quality.
"It just simply wasn’t good enough."
Storey felt United struggled to recover after falling behind just before half-time and were unable to build the momentum required to turn the game around.
"What we expect from this group is so much more.
"We had that honest conversation with the boys after the game that ultimately the quality wasn’t there.
"We probably lacked that real desire and bite to really change the game in the second-half after a poor 45 minutes."
The Assistant Head Coach stressed that he viewed the Eastleigh performance as an isolated disappointment rather than a reflection of the team’s efforts across the opening weeks of the season.
"It’s been a little bit different from the previous games where there’s definitely been clear opportunities to score goals and win games.
"There’s probably been good periods of performance, but yesterday, from minute one to 93, just simply wasn’t good enough."
Storey believes the key is maintaining conviction in the next action, even when the previous one has not gone to plan.
"When I talk about mentality, I mean conviction and real intention in our actions.
"It might not hit the mark every time, but you hope that your other parts of the game do, so that you overall can do enough to perform to get the results that you need.
"We’re not going to be 10 out of 10 in every area of our performance."
He added: "As the game went on, you could see that we couldn’t get back into that position where we could make clear decisions that our quality could then follow through from that.
"We’d like to think that it is very much a one-off game in terms of the performance and it’s something that we can improve on and address and that the boys will definitely bounce back within future games."
While Storey acknowledged there have been positive aspects to United’s opening nine games, he accepted that the team now needs to turn those performances into points.
"We know that the points tally at this moment in time isn’t where it should be and it isn’t where we aimed it to be and it’s something that needs to be addressed as soon as the next couple of games.
"We’ll bear that in mind in terms of our set-up and how we want to go in terms of picking players that we feel are in the right position to go and perform and get the results.
"However, we still will do it in the best way that we see fit, which is obviously being aggressive out of possession."
Storey believes there have been enough opportunities created in the majority of United’s matches to suggest the performances have contained plenty of encouragement, despite the points tally not reflecting that.
"I totally understand that we can’t let too much more time fall in terms of the process of letting it click.
"But as frustrating as it is in terms of results, you take away the Eastleigh game specifically, I don’t think you can deny that there’s been plenty of opportunities in the majority of the games to win games with the chances that we’ve created."
Louis also acknowledged the reaction from the travelling supporters following the defeat and understands the frustration after a disappointing afternoon.
"We totally understand the reaction and take it on the chin, essentially. It’s part and parcel of the job.
"We’re working in a big football club with a fantastic fanbase and some of them fans have travelled a hell of a long way.
"Expectations are high, and we knew that coming into the building."
He added that the coaching staff share those expectations and ambitions.
"Our expectations are just as high, and our ambitions are just as high to be successful, not just yesterday, not just Saturday coming against Woking, but this season and in the seasons ahead and the future ahead.
"It’s part and parcel of the job. We understand it."
Storey confirmed that Regan Linney, Brad Nicholson and Morgan Feeney all have a chance to return for the next fixture, depending on how much training they are able to complete during the upcoming week.
"It was really unfortunate with Brad and Regan in terms of them not being injuries, and [it being] illnesses, and then with Morgan, obviously it was a precautionary decision.
"Ultimately, Morgan has been thrown in at the deep end after returning from his injury with next to no pre-season essentially.
"We want to make sure that we have our captain especially because he’s one of the best players in the league, if not the best defender in the league, as fit as possible for the full season."
Storey admitted the absences were felt against Eastleigh, particularly in terms of leadership on the pitch.
"We always want our better players, but more importantly I want our leaders on the pitch as well who can really drive our standards, our expectations and our performances so that we can get the results that we want."
Storey also identified set-pieces as an area where United need to become more threatening, particularly on days when their overall performance is below its usual level.
"When you’re not playing very well, you’ve got to dig deep, and you’ve got to try and make up the margin in other aspects of the game, and obviously set pieces is one of them.
"Could we have been more threatening and could we have maybe given ourselves a chance from set pieces? I agree.
"That’s just one part of the puzzle that was underwhelming yesterday."
He believes United must continue working on every aspect of their game to ensure they have different ways of influencing matches.
"We always want to get better and always want to improve because ultimately we want to be good at all parts of the game and we always strive to be the best team in every aspect."
United are also still waiting for their first clean sheet of the season, with Storey stating that defensive consistency has to improve.
"I think just ultimately performance levels, and we’ve conceded a lot of goals from set pieces, which changes momentum of games at times.
"There will be a couple of performances arguably we could maybe contest and challenge that if we didn’t concede from set pieces it would allow us to keep our control and not change the momentum of the game."
Storey accepts that United’s aggressive style can bring an element of vulnerability, but believes the team can improve its defensive consistency without compromising its approach.
"We can get better, and we can be more consistent in terms of how we defend the box.
"Clean sheets get you draws, and then you’re getting points on the board, then your attacking players can then change that into three points and wins.
"We know that’s a foundation and a structure that we really want to try and build from."
The number of absentees also meant United had to alter their defensive and midfield options at Eastleigh, with players taking on different roles.
Storey explained that decisions around younger players such as Hayden Atkinson and Jonah Lowes also have to be considered in the context of their longer-term development.
"There’s just times where you make them calls for younger players' long-term development, because ultimately we have big aspirations for both Hayden and for Jonah.
"I’m sure that the fans will have the same desire as the club and the coaching team to have young local players eventually breaking through and playing and representing this first team."
He added that regular football is important for their development.
"What’s really critical is regular game time for them so that they can become more experienced, so that they can continue to be exposed to men’s football so that when they step into the first team they’re a lot more prepared and have that experience under the belt."
With the Eastleigh result now behind them, Storey says the focus is firmly on responding in the next game and showing the standards expected of the group.
"The next game is really important because it’s the next game.
"Secondly, because we know that we want to transcend our performance."
