Carlisle United manager Paul Simpson has stated that his side must improve if they are to get anything from their Boxing Day tie with Fleetwood Town.
The Blues travel to Fleetwood, knowing that they have to take some points back to Cumbria or they could be at serious risk from falling adrift from the rest of the teams at the bottom in League One.
Simpson’s side are winless since October and now sit in 23rd in League One, joint on points with bottom side Cheltenham Town. The Cumbrians would in fact face Cheltenham last Saturday and arguably put in their worst performance of the season, as a lifeless side lost 1-0 to the Robins.
That was a huge blow for the Carlisle as not only did it bring Cheltenham level on points with them, they would also see Reading beat Wigan and Fleetwood draw with top of the table Portsmouth. Being the only side in the bottom four to not pick up points on the weekend came as a huge blow to their survival chances and they now once again have another must-win game.
Prior to their clash with Portsmouth, Fleetwood had lost four on the bounce and hadn’t managed to find the back of the net in any one of those games. However they’d manage an improved performance against the league leaders, coming from behind to draw away, to give fans some Christmas cheer.
It’s now very much about what they can do with that change in momentum, and Lee Johnson’s side have the perfect opportunity to keep that said momentum going today against a struggling Carlisle side.
Carlisle themselves will now be wanting to build some momentum and a win today could do just that.
In his pre-match interview with club media, Simpson expressed his disappointment after the Cheltenham defeat as well as stating that his side simply must improve if they want to beat Fleetwood.
“They’re all big games but let’s be honest, if we perform like we did against Cheltenham then it doesn’t matter who we play, we’re not going to get anything.
“We need to massively improve. The disappointing thing, was they all seemed to have a spring in their step after the Northampton game. To then perform like we did against Cheltenham is hugely disappointing. We’re going to have to have a long serious look at ourselves.”
“Everybody knew in terms of players and staff that Cheltenham wasn’t good enough and we need to improve. I find it hard to believe we can be as poor as that in our next game, but the challenge is to make sure we’re not.”
“We need to go and increase our level of performance and make sure we’re a damn sight better than we were on Saturday, otherwise we’re going to be in for another disappointing afternoon.”
Writer’s View
As Simpson has said, it is imperative that Carlisle improve or it could once again be a long afternoon for Blues fans. Having improved in their match against Northampton prior to the poor Cheltenham performance, it seems as if the team are once again back at square one.
Although the pressure may not be heaped on Simpson just yet, a result is really needed with Carlisle winless in the league in two months. A win today would be a statement to the rest of the teams at the bottom of the table and would see them leapfrog Fleetwood in the league, something that fans will certainly be hoping for after the recent struggles.
