United manager Graham Kavanagh (GK) spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's Andy Wood (AW) following Carlisle's 0-0 FA Cup first round draw away to Boreham Wood, Kavanagh saying it was a really difficult afternoon for the Blues:
AW
A difficult afternoon in the end for you?
GK
It was, it ended up being a really difficult afternoon, one which I didn’t think we replicated any sort of form that we showed on Tuesday night, which is disappointing. We created all the scenarios that would possibly happen today prior to the game and we just didn’t seem to have the urgency, which is disappointing today. I thought we could have moved the ball quicker, a lot of the players seemed to be in between the game.
We weren’t picking up enough second balls, we weren’t moving the ball two and three touch and we weren’t getting the ball into the wide areas, and again that final ball into the box where we have been creative and we have been positive in recent weeks. Disappointing, but still in the hat so that is the pleasing thing.
AW
Taking a positive from it was it the way that the opposition set up that held you back today, because they were just digging in really weren’t they for the 90 minutes?
GK
Yeah, I think you have got to give them credit, it is the FA Cup and it is always going to be difficult, especially away from home. I think the pitch looked pleasing on the eye from a distance but up close when you were on the grass it was very, very soft on top. A lot of the players were losing their footing and they seemed to be lacking that little bit of confidence and belief, maybe in themselves and each other.
That is the disappointment, there looked to be a little bit of fear amongst the players today, which I was disappointed with. But, listen, as I say, it is one of them, we could have come away with a defeat. Mark Gillespie gets injured at the end of the game and I am just saying, look just get us to the end of the match.
Then we get there, we get the draw, we get them back to their place and I am sure on our pitch, the size of it, the open sort of areas will help us exploit and create the over-loads and we get chances. If they can replicate that performance again then good luck to them, but we know we can certainly improve a hell of a lot more than we played today and that is what we will be dwelling on.
AW
Yeah, you did have some good chances, particularly in the first-half, were you watching it thinking it might not be your day when they weren’t going in?
GK
Yeah, there was a spell I think 15 minutes before half-time where we had a couple of ricochets in and around the box with shots that were being taken from the edge and the keeper [James Russell] has pulled off one or two good saves. But, we didn’t work the keeper well enough today, we made life for the keeper a bit easy, I thought we dolly-ed balls in rather than whipping them in with pace and putting them on top of him where we were going to ask him questions.
It is one of those things, it is a learning experience for all of us, it is a young group, especially the younger lads who have experienced the FA Cup for the first time. I said to them today, it was a great opportunity to put their names in lights if you like. Before the game I showed the players some of the cup runs of previous years and I also showed them the cup runs of today, which Boreham Wood had a full exposure page in the Sun.
So, there was that little bit of pressure because I knew if we had lost the game we would have been slaughtered. So, we tried not to put too much pressure on the players but emphasised the importance of the game, so get that balancing act is a little bit difficult at times, but I didn’t think we coped too well with it.
AW
Yeah, you said on Tuesday night you were going to show them the video of when you were knocked out of the cup, was there ever a point in the game where you thought that was coming today, or did you think you were reasonably in control of not losing it?
GK
No, I never thought we were within danger of losing the game if I am being honest, other than the fact that when Mark gets injured late in the game, he couldn’t move, he couldn’t come off his line. I wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to make any saves, if he was going to be able to dive off that leg.
But, as it happened they never got in any areas that were going to hurt us, they looked a little bit of a threat from set-pieces but there was no real quality going into the box and there was certainly nobody who was going to attack the ball and look like they would cause us problems.
But, that being said, it is the FA Cup you know, you think if you have possession of the ball for long periods and you don’t open them up, which we didn’t really, that they are going to get a chance. Luckily enough today they didn’t but we are going to have improve immensely for the home game.
AW
What is the situation with Mark Gillespie you have just mentioned, what actually happened to him when he crumpled?
GK
Well, two weeks ago he trained on a Wednesday, he had the day off and he came in on the Wednesday and just did a little bit extra and he felt a tightness in the back of the knee and it was a problem. But, it settled down within two days and he was absolutely fine for the game. So, it hasn’t been a problem ever since and then today I mean the ball is going wide, I think he was just shepherding it out and looks to get his body behind it.
For whatever reason, I don’t know why, something seemed to pop in the back of his knee he said, so Dolly [Neil Dalton] has looked at it and he seems to think that it is a muscle injury but we are going to have to get it scanned and just get the real extent of what it is because we couldn’t afford to go long term with losing him. He has been a big player for us, he is improving all the time and we definitely need to get to the bottom of what exactly it is.
AW
And Pascal Chimbonda injured in training yesterday as well I believe, what is the injury?
GK
He just had a tight groin, we trained on a 4G pitch yesterday, we asked a few clubs if they would help us and to be fair Leicester did and they have been different class. But, because they had the rain they couldn’t let us go on the grass pitch, so they asked us if we would use the 4G and we were just thankful we got to use anywhere really.
But, he felt a tightness in his groin, didn’t really want to risk him because I thought, well if we do he may have got through the game but likewise he could be out for six weeks and that would have been a problem. So, we decided to go with Brad Potts, I thought Pottsy was fine in the game, looking to get forward, looked confident, won his headers, won his battle against the wide man.
So, as I say, it is disappointing on a number of levels today but we are still in the cup and that is what we have got to take from it. It is still a positive and we look forward to the draw tomorrow, and we know now exactly what Boreham Wood have to offer which we didn’t really know before the game although we had two scouting reports on them. Now we can look forward to Wednesday, hopefully get a result and take it into Saturday. But, as I say, we are still in the cup, that is the only positive I am taking out of today.
AW
You spoke in the week about possibly bringing a striker in the squad at some point soon, are you any closer with anyone on that?
GK
We thought we would have had the prize money in the bank today to be able to do something, but the answer is we haven’t. So, I am not going to be presumptuous and ask the chairman [Andrew Jenkins] if there is any money around.
So, we wait and see, the pleasing thing about having the extra game is that Lee Miller is back fit sooner because he is now back for the Rotherham game, which he wasn’t prior to that. So, the more I think about it there are a few more positives. But, no, it is one of them today, it wasn’t good enough in terms of the quality we wanted to show, but we didn’t get beat.
AW
Next up a cup game for you in a competition which as you know is Carlisle United’s competition really, got to keep that up now?
GK
Yeah, we have, and we are live on SKY, I think there will be one or two, I said to the boys before the game we have extended highlights of today on ITV, so I wouldn’t rush out and watch the highlights this evening. But, we will have to perform better, I think we have performed generally when the cameras have been on us, or we have done this season anyway.
So, it is one of them that we go into Wednesday’s game, we will hopefully look to win it, but we will certainly look forward to a much higher standard and our energy levels and our intelligence are going to have to be a lot greater and a lot more sharper, and the focus will have to be on what we do. As I keep saying every week, I am not concerned about the opposition but I know if we perform and we commit ourselves to being as good as we can be then we are a match for any team.