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" It was one of my most disappointing moments in recent memory. When I was at Blackburn we went to Arsenal or Manchester United a couple of times hoping to avoid getting battered, but going somewhere you think you can win and getting beat 5-0 is bitterly disappointing. I remember their fans chanting "Easy, Easy!" and "We want six!" towards the end of the game. I'll remember that.
" I suppose it has been the lowest point in my career. They beat us 4-3 at home as well, and it was really hard to take. I remember driving home last season and it really hurt me, but they played really well on the day. It's still in the back of my mind going into Saturday.
" They've done me a good turn actually because I haven't needed to motivate the players after what happened last year. We owe our fans a good performance after that, it's now up to the players to turn up and put in a great display if we want to get the result.
" Supporters spend a lot of money in tough times to come and watch us play, especially away from home, and we let them down last season. Now we've got to pay them back on Saturday. We're going back there strong mentally, stronger physically and more organised than we've ever been. Saturday can't come quickly enough. "
" We've had a good ten days where we've worked hard physically, mentally and tactically, and we're all looking forward to the game. The players have not been hard to manage because they're a good group of lads. We should have a fully fit squad. I rested Sean O'Hanlon and Dietmar Hamman against Dagenham & Redbridge and they both would have played against Southampton, but will be ready for Carlisle.
" People will have seen at the open training session on Monday that we've done a lot of tactical work and that's because Carlisle operate a little differently to most teams in this division so it's something we've got to get used to. Ian Harte is Premier League quality, he is a dead ball specialist - if we can limit the number of free-kicks and corners we give away then we can reduce his chances of scoring. But they have got some very good players.
" I looked at their first few games and thought it looked extremely difficult for them. Brentford, Huddersfield and Plymouth are all sides people are tipping for automatic promotion and Carlisle have played very well against all of them and picked up some good results. It's a challenge we're ready to take on, so we'll go out, play our football and make it very difficult for them.
" It's ideal preparation to stop and train really because if you train in Milton Keynes and then sit on the coach for four or five hours you're only going to get stiff. At least if we train at Blackburn we're two thirds of the way there. Then you can get off, train a little and then you've only got a shorter distance to the hotel. We're extremely grateful to Blackburn for offering us their facilities. "