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" It is easy to say I want more of the same, but we have done that too many times this year and lost. We have to realise that we need the vital moments to go our way. We have to source them our way and they didn't go our way at Yeovil. Unfortunately, the two goals we conceded were vital. Maybe it needs to be looked at a bit sterner and say: 'Well, we are better off getting a goal and fighting like mad to hold on to it'. We will see.
" We are all looking forward to playing at St James' Park again. If the backing we receive today is anything like the hugely supportive support we had against Leeds then we have a great chance of at least gaining a good start in the game.
" I will be looking to bring in a defender soon, we have got plenty of irons in the fire. We have been on it for the last few days but it hasn't quite come to fruition yet. Troy (Archibald-Henville) has been with us for a year (in two spells) and did extremely well for us. We were very keen to keep him but that is what happens when you have got a young player on loan — he is not yours. "
Meanwhile Grecians striker Adam Stansfield commented to his club's official website :
" You can't have any easy games in this league. They are all here on merit. Every match is going to be tough, we have to go into every game as if it is Leeds again and Carlisle is no exception. They will all be tough but we need to work hard, keep it tight and go from there.
" I was injured when we went to Carlisle for the away game. But it was one of the performances where the manager keeps saying that everything was right in the way the team set up and the work rate. Hopefully that will give the team some confidence and I hope we can do the same again. "
And left-back Scott Golbourne told the Express and Echo :
" It was disappointing to lose on Saturday but the good thing is that we have got another game coming up to go and get a result. Our home form has been really decent this season, it is away from home that we have struggled a little bit more. As good as it was to beat Leeds, it is more important to beat teams around us in the league.
" It wasn't to be on Saturday and we have learned some harsh lessons from the match. It means we really need to go and get a result on Tuesday against Carlisle. We know how difficult it is to get points in this league. You have to be on top of your game against the majority of the teams to take any points.
" We have been playing well but conceding goals and not getting the wins. It is back to the drawing board for us and hopefully we can make one or two minor adjustments to our game. "
While finally midfielder Ryan Harley was extremely bullish about Exeter's chances against Carlisle this evening, Harley telling Kellow's Bootlaces :
" Our home form has been decent this year and we shouldn't have too many problems tonight. You look at some of the sides around us in the league, and even above us, and they are not great teams.
" If we can put a couple of results together we are more than capable of establishing ourselves in mid-table. We are a good team, everyone knows that by the way we play and the players we have got. It is just a case of sticking together and I am sure it will happen for us.
" These are the types of games we need to be winning. We were disappointed not to have got anything out of the Yeovil match, but hopefully we can put on a performance against Carlisle, move back up the league and give ourselves a bit of a cushion on the bottom four.
" I have got a few mates at Carlisle and they are not a bad team. We beat them 1-0 at their place in what was a tough game. They had a decent result against Leeds but we could really do with winning this game and I am sure we can. "
In team news for the Grecians this evening they have problems at the back with young centre-half Troy Archibald-Henville having returned to Tottenham Hotspur after his six month loan spell with City expired at the weekend.
Veteran former United defender Rob Edwards is unavailable too after picking up a bad facial injury in their 2-0 home win over Leeds ten days ago, Edwards losing two of his teeth in the incident. Exeter's resources further stretched in their back line by the sale of Dan Seaborne to Southampton two weeks ago for an undisclosed fee.
Elsewhere in the squad one-time Bristol City midfielder David Noble is still absent as he recovers from a knee injury, Noble's progression back to full fitness having been hampered by the poor weather around the festive period. While finally, striker Ben Watson is out with a calf injury he picked up shortly before being due to join Blue Square Premier side Forest Green on loan for a month on New Year's Eve, Watson obviously being unavailable anyway even if he was fit.
The referee for tonight's match is Oliver Langford from Wednesbury in the West Midlands, and he will be assisted down the lines by Marvyn Amphlett from Kidderminster in Worcestershire and Richard Martin from Weston-super-Mare in Somerset. Meanwhile the fourth official is local refeee Jonathan Hunt from Devonport.