Stevenage boss Graham Westley spoke to BBC Three Counties Radio and The Comet on Thursday ahead of his side's League One match against Carlisle at Brunton Park tomorrow, Westley not too bothered about a long journey up north for the Boro :
“It is a long trip but nowadays with the transport being what it is you don’t need to notice the journey if you are smart in the way you travel, so we will travel well. We will be in a good physical shape to play the game at the weekend and we are really looking forward to it. It is bizarre to think that the last time we played each other was in the Conference in 2005, and who would have thought that six years later we would both be playing in League One. Who would have thought it? It is almost unpredictable isn’t it.
"Peter Murphy is playing at the back for them now and he is still doing a solid job, I haven’t had a chance to thank him for the goal he scored so I can do that at the weekend. Ronnie Henry and Alan Julian are probably the only survivors as players from that day, Dino Maamria of course played in the final and he is now coach, so they have got Murph and we have got Dino on the bench who was nearly instrumental in a victory for us.
"We had two cracking wins against them in the league, one up there on a cold Tuesday night I think it was and then we beat them at our place with two late goals. It was 2-1 on both occasions and we played very well, we showed exactly how to travel to their place and we can certainly call upon the memory from that as we look forward to the weekend.
“Carlisle have obviously been on a tough run of late and Greg Abbott is well regarded but under pressure as I understand it, and I hope he sees it through because he has always been a decent fella whenever I have spoken to him. They went into the season with high hopes, they had a mid-table finish last year and they were looking to build on that and I know they were optimistic about their chances of forcing their way in and being seen as a play-off side this year.
"So, the club’s expectations are set around that level and obviously anything less than that isn’t going to feel good for them. So, they are where they are, I think they are roughly where they finished last season so they have started again as they did last year. You can’t underestimate anyone in any league, certainly in any professional league and we know the dangers that any side poses."
"But, I think the focus this week has been on ourselves, we have got a lot of strengths in our camp, physically we are in fantastic shape, we got the results of the tests for the players this week and we have been looking at the physical advantage they have got when we have benchmarked against other clubs. Their test results really are fantastic, so we know that we go into games with a lot of legwork that we can do over other sides because of the physical condition.
"People know when they play Stevenage that we are supremely fit, it’s good to know you’ve got more endurance, it’s good to know you’ve got bigger lung capacities, it’s good to know your fitness levels are at a high level. So we’re confident in our physicality and if you watch us week in, week out, we use that to dominate the ball and to attack sides.
“I don’t think that everyone gets that, but it doesn’t bother me that they don’t. The fact they notice how able our players are in terms of fitness and being strong in a physical encounter tells you something. Anyone who has done their homework will know we’re a very good side in a physical sense, but at the same time anyone who is doing their homework should realise there’s a lot more to us than that. It doesn’t bother me if people underestimate us.
"Certainly we want to get an intensity back into our game that we have shown at times this season but not consistently, get that intensity back in because when we are on it, when we get our level up, when we get the speed of the game up, we get our intensity on top of sides then we are very difficult to handle.
“I don’t think any of our players have ruled themselves out of tomorrow and you can’t rule anyone in on a Thursday, it is always a tough session out there on a Thursday and there are always bits and pieces that people pick up. We need players to be right on the top of their physical condition to put the right level of intensity into the game, so I would like to get Thursday out of the way before I start thinking about the weekend.
"Obviously, I have got the team in my mind and we will do some pattern work today but I would like to know on Friday morning that they are in the right physical condition before we make our mind up on who exactly will wear the shirts. But, we have got knocks, not everyone will train today, probably five or six will stay inside, so we have got our knocks but every week we have enough players to fill the eleven shirts and enough players to fill the substitutes bench, so any player in the squad I trust to do the job, that is what they are all here for."