United boss Graham Kavanagh (GK) spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's James Phillips (JP) at Tuesday's open press conference for the local media, Kavanagh talking about Carlisle Johnstone's Paint Trophy Northern Area quarter-final tie at Fleetwood on Wednesday night:
GK
It is a great opportunity isn’t it, we have SKY there who haven’t been at our games for a while, so it will be really pleasing for us to hopefully showcase ourselves, put in a good performance and hopefully show the world that we can play an attractive brand of football and creative brand of football and hopefully entertain the viewers who tune in. But, it is an important game, I think we are four games away from Wembley, if we can manage to get through this one then you can actually start to smell it and taste it if you do get over this tie.
Which will be very, very difficult, they are a good side Fleetwood, especially at home, they have got some very good results, they have got some good players and they have got a very good manager. So, we are going to give them the utmost respect that we can possibly give them and we have prepared very, very diligently and we hope that we can cause them one or two problems.
JP
What do you expect from them, what sort of game, there is a league between the two sides but they are the League Two leaders, I mean they are going to be coming up here thinking this is their chance to show everyone that they belong at that level?
GK
Well, the advantage they have is that they are at home, they have the home support and obviously quite clearly they are riding high in the division. Full of confidence, a lot of momentum behind them and a lot of belief and that is always a tricky animal to face anywhere. So, we are going to have to be on our game, we have performed extremely well last Tuesday against Wolves, unlucky not to win that game.
Had an indifferent performance on Saturday against a tricky Boreham Wood tie which on a difficult pitch, obviously the FA Cup, there was a lot at stake, we have now managed to get them at home which we look forward to. But, tomorrow is a big game for us, the next game, I keep on saying it, the next game is the most important, it is an opportunity for the players who haven’t played to showcase what they can do and show me what they are all about, and we will be looking to get big performances and hopefully get through the tie.
JP
I know you will have had them watched, without revealing tactical details or anything, what sort of approach do you expect from them, what sort of game do you think the Carlisle fans can expect there?
GK
Well, hopefully an entertaining game to start with because they are an attacking team, they love to get the ball on the grass, they play a high intensity and high energy style type of football, quite similar to ourselves. So, with it being a narrow pitch I am not expecting a lot of goalmouth action because I think a lot of it will come down the middle of the park. So, we have got to try to make the pitch as big as we can when we are in possession and as narrow obviously as we can when we are out of possession.
But, it is all about the intelligence, the way we move the ball, the opportunities we create, if we can get the overload in the wide areas if at all we can, and then it is all about the quality of the delivery and the ability to try to put the ball in the net. We have got one or two injuries that have disrupted our rhythm if you like, Mark Gillespie is going to be out, Pascal Chimbonda is going to be out, there are one or two others nursing bits and pieces. But, we make do with what we have got and we march on and hopefully, as I say, try to get the right result.
JP
Can you tell us any sort of duration on either of those two injuries?
GK
Pascal trained this morning having slightly tweaked his groin last Friday when we were away in Leicester, and I thought he was going to be fine but he did the warm-up and the passing drills and felt it again. So, he is going to have a scan this afternoon, we are going to have some idea as to the extent. Mark is a bit more serious, Mark has got a grade two tear in his LCL [Lateral Collateral Ligament].
JP
What is that?
GK
I have no idea, I just heard LCL so I am just regurgitating what I have been told. So, you will probably actually do some research and there won’t even be an LCL in the knee. But, he has got a problem and he is definitely injured in the back in the knee so he is going to be six to eight weeks it looks like. So, that is an issue because he has been outstanding for us this season.
JP
That is a blow, I guess you will have to go into the transfer market with that will you, just at least to have another goalkeeper even if Greg [Fleming] were to get the chance/
GK
Well, yeah, I think we are going to have to do that, because as back up now we only have the two kids [Lewis Brass and Danny Eccles] who quite clearly aren’t ready. It is a big ask of Greg who hasn’t played for a while, so he is going to get thrown in tomorrow at the deep end, it is sink or swim. But, we are going to be looking for a keeper, Greg is eligible for the FA Cup tie, so he has to play in that because I think the rules state that if you are not signed by the first leg then you can’t play in the return.
So, Greg will definitely play in that as well, but we will just see how it goes tomorrow night. It is up to him, he has played a lot of football down the years, he has played at this level, he has played in the SPL, so he knows what it is like. It is not like I am throwing a kid in, I just hope he shines and does himself justice.