United media officer and first team kitman Andy Hall (AH) spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's Paul Newton (PN) ahead of Carlisle's FA Cup Third Round match away to Torquay, Hall first talking about the changes to the United starting line-up today with the exodus of loan players from Brunton Park this week :
PN
I have heard some suggest that today Torquay will start as favourites given the way United's defence in particular has been left so short of numbers with (Lubomir) Michalik and (James) Chester returning to their clubs. Do you see it that way? Do you think United are up against it today?
AH
No, we don't feel it is that way at all, I think if you go into a game thinking like that then you are causing yourselves problems before you have even kicked off. There is still a good squad here, but absolutely you have got to hold your hand up and say that the central defender that we had has gone. We have had to fill that gap with Paul Thirlwell, but he is a very able replacement and the team around him is pretty much as you would have expected to select anyway.
PN
The league form has been indifferent of late, will Greg Abbott see today as a welcome break or perhaps a good chance to instil a bit of lost confidence back into this side?
AH
No, it is not even spoken about as a game that is out of the ordinary or away from the league or anything like that. Every single game that we go into is one that we want to win, and that is what the focus is on, so it can be JPT, it can be FA Cup or it can be League One, the fact of the matter is that you have got to prepare the same, you have got to select the side that you think is going to win the game. Hopefully with it being a knockout competition you are the one that is in there come four o'clock tomorrow afternoon.
PN
What has the mood been like around the club this week? Obviously, it has been a tough week for Greg on the back of that Tranmere defeat and losing some of those key loan players, what has the mood been like amongst the players?
AH
Well, James (Phillips) rightly pointed out at the press conference the other day that we have got two (league) wins in ten when you cut out all of the cup competitions and the wheat from the chaff if you want to put it that way. We have got to put that right, the fact of the matter is that the bread and butter comes in league football, that is where the focus will be week in and week out.
But, again, I will reiterate, once you get the cup game you switch attention to that and you try to progress. But, yes, you are right, we have got to turn that around, absolutely no two ways about it. We are a team that we keep talking about the Championship, well it is only talk if you are not winning games. So, to turn it into a realistic ambition, a realistic aspiration, you have to be winning games on a weekly basis.
PN
And so often in the cup competitions, most notably in the FA Cup, we keep on hearing this word hunger, it is about who is the hungrier team and that is something I guess Greg is really going to have to instil in his players today?
AH
He has just used that in the team-talk just at 1.30pm there, he got the lads together and he mentioned one word which was 'Tamworth', we are through but by heck it was close. Tamworth pushed us all the way because on that day, I wouldn't say that they were hungrier but certainly they came and they gave us a real test.
It will be the same with Torquay, they are mid-table in League Two, what they will want to do with their fans, because they do suffer from very small crowds down here at Plainmoor, they will want to show the little bit extra that they are going to get here today that they can compete. They are a team that I think are only three or four points off the play-offs themselves so there is not that much of a difference and they will want to show that.
PN
I guess the big talking point from the starting eleven that Greg has named this afternoon is Paul Thirlwell starting alongside Peter Murphy in the centre-half position, how well do you think Paul will be able to adapt to that position today?
AH
It is a big test for him but he is a fantastic footballer, he is one of those that I know people keep saying this as well, but when he is not there that is when you realise just how good a player Paul Thirlwell is. One of the reasons for that is because he reads the game so well and that is a key attribute to have when you are at the heart of a defence. They are certainly very mobile are Torquay United and they like to get forward, so he is going to have his work cut out today but if anybody can step in and do that task then it will be Paul.
PN
And from a purely financial perspective, this is undoubtedly the biggest game of United's season so far?
AH
Well, there are so many implications aren't there, there is not just the prize fund, I think it is £67,500 or something like that. Add that on to the Round One and Two prize fund as well, but then you are into Round Four and who knows what can happen there. We all sat there and when it got down to the last eight for this draw, Tottenham Hotspur were there and I bet everybody with a Carlisle shirt on had their fingers crossed, come on let's have Spurs.
Well, it will be the same again tomorrow but you have got to be there and Torquay will be thinking exactly the same. Because, we have mentioned that they get small crowds and what an impact a place in Round Four would be for them. So, you can't take it for granted, get out there, work hard, do your job and you will be the one who can look forward to the rewards.