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"Carlisle have just sold Michael Bridges to Hull City but they still have some other very good players. I've seen them twice this season and we also played them three times last year so we know what they are about. Hopefully we can be ready for whatever they put up against us and see if we can give them a good game.
"Grant McCann is away on international duty and I've lost one or two other boys this week to injury as well. Steven Gillespie is out for two weeks and I can confirm that Ashley Vincent will miss the rest of the season with his knee ligament injury. That's something I've got to consider. Grant is a big miss for us but we'll give it some thought and try and give Carlisle a good game with what we've got.
"The bus will go to Carlisle tomorrow with a couple of young boys who have not figured around the first team, then there is Andy Gallinagh who has only had one game, Michael Wylde and Sosthene Yao and Adam Connolly as well. There are some young boys there but that doesn't worry me because they have worked exceptionally hard for an opportunity. If one or two of them get a chance then it's up to them to grasp it. That's what they are here for and that's what we've worked with them for. If called upon I'm sure they won't let us down.
"We learned a lot from Carlisle last season and felt that we got closer to them as the season went on, in the same way we did with Grimsby Town. We know they can pass and play like us, they have only brought two new faces in and the rest of them were there last year and have done very well for them. Hopefully it will be a good game for everyone.
"I'm fine with the group of players I've got but what we certainly don't need is any more injuries. We have a good team in the treatment room at the moment and the sooner we get them back the better.
"There are goals in our team and it was only the Port Vale game where we struggled to score. We have scored and looked like scoring in all the other games. We can get crosses in and attack teams but it's about getting enough of the ball. That might sound obvious but Carlisle are good with possession and we need to stop them having too much of it, then use the ball well ourselves when we get it."
As Ward has mentioned the Robins travel north with a depleted squad, although their excellent playing record against the Cumbrians suggests that it may not be a problem. Definitely out of action are Grant McCann, Ashley Vincent, Michael Townsend, Damian Spencer, Steven Gillespie, David Bird and Shane Duff. McCann away on international duty this weekend, the 26-year old set-piece specialist being an unused substitute in Northern Ireland's disappointing 3-0 defeat at home to Iceland on Saturday afternoon.
All being struck down by knee injuries are Vincent, Townsend, Spencer and Bird, 21-year old Vincent out for the season having seriously injured his anterior cruciate ligament in a 4-3 home reserve team defeat to Swansea on Tuesday afternoon. Gillespie will be out for two weeks after suffering a hairline fracture of the fibula in his right leg, while Duff is out of the reckoning with an achilles problem.
United have their own selection problems though with midfielders Chris Billy and Neale McDermott both out through injury, add to that the fact that enforced exile Adam Murray moved to Torquay for £10,000 on transfer deadline day and the Blues engine room is looking very lightweight. Also going out of the Brunton Park exit door on Thursday was Michael Bridges to Hull City for £350,000, and with Glenn Murray and Raphael Nade away on loan to Stockport and Weymouth respectively it leaves Carlisle extremely short on options upfront as well.
The referee for the game tomorrow is Neil Swarbrick from Walton-le-Dale near Preston. Swarbrick assisted down the lines by Mark Lawson (Northumberland) and Danny Roberts (Greater Manchester), while the fourth official is Paul Kettlewell from Lancashire.