When these two sides met in September at Kingfield, Carlisle recorded their third straight draw to slip to 9th spot in the table. Since then, United have produced their best form of the season but two defeats in 3 league games has put them in a position where they now need a long unbeaten run to claw back ground on the leaders. Brazilian keeper Adriano Basso is the last line of a tough defence that doesn't concede very often. Although the Cards have not been especially prolific in front of goals, they tend to play tight, close games and are starting to make real progress and could be one of the form teams of the second half of the season, if manager Glenn Cockerill keeps them going. Woking were the last side to take anything off Barnet at Underhill and there's no doubting their team spirit and pedigree with former Arsenal and Fulham man Ian Selley having a consistent season for them in midfield. The Cards are a competitive side who made life difficult for the Cumbrians in the season's first encounter, even though United will claim they just about deserved the points that day. For United, memories will probably be revived of the 5-1 hammering handed out to Woking in the FA Cup four seasons ago under the guidance of Ian Atkins. Ian Stevens cracked in four goals that day to equal a club record but Woking are a handier side these days and United are not playing with the fluency they were a couple of months ago. Simmo and the boys will need to dig deep to get their form going again, and with Kevin Gray and Peter Murphy expected to be back, they will at least be close to having a first-choice starting line-up available again. With Tom Cowan still out, on loan Marc Tierney is expected to make his home debut, whilst Glenn Murray has a chance of at least being on the bench after signing earlier today. A lot may rest on the ability of Karl Hawley and Magno Vieira to re-discover their shooting boots after missing a lot of chances in recent weeks. Andy Preece may again be needed to add his valuable experience after his two decisive goals at Accrington helped us out of a hole 10 days ago. I fear Woking will be well-organised in defence and this may be another frustrating afternoon for the Blues. Likely line-up (4-4-2): Glennon, Shelley, Gray, Grand, Tierney, McGill, Billy, Lumsdon, Murphy, Preece, Hawley Subs: Vieira, Murray, Arnison, Simpson, Westwood Prediction: UNITED 0-0 Woking |
