United boss Greg Abbott (GA) spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's James Phillips (JP) at Friday morning's press conference for the local media, Abbott first talking about Sunderland frontman Jordan Cook extending his loan deal with the Blues :
GA
He has been a bit stop-start with the weather but his overall performance has been good. We think there is a player in there and he needs to show that determination to prove to the people at Sunderland that he is improving and he is a player that is worthy of playing in the Premier League. He is doing what a lot of other players in the past have done, they have come here to find some football, the likes of (Ben) Marshall and (James) Chester and (Adam) Clayton and people like that have benefitted and they have helped us along our way. So, we are hoping that Jordan will do the same and it is encouraging what we have seen so far.
JP
In terms of how he has slotted into your mood in the dressing room and in with the other players, how keen was he to come back and to extend this loan himself?
GA
I mean that is an absolute 100% one for him, he is a good kid, very good kid, he has been brought up properly with Sunderland and talks the right sort of stuff. No problem in the dressing room, the dressing room likes him and he is keen to stay and help us find a top six slot, which I think is what everybody is talking about at the moment.
JP
It is just another month, would that be with the option to extend that again then if that was suitable to both parties?
GA
Yeah, I mean you never know what is happening at his parent club, so if we do it at a month we can see where he is. They like him there and they have a lot of time for him, and if it is looking likely that their run of form continues then he probably won't get in their team. So, it might benefit him to stay here but we will keep that decision open to them, then I think everybody wins.
JP
Do you have more of an idea of what sort of player he is having had this month with him? Do you see him as a wide player or do you think that he is somebody who could develop and play down the middle? Because, he has got lovely quick feet which I am sure would terrorise centre-backs?
GA
Yeah, I mean are you picking my team for me now? You are moving my positions and my players around, yeah? He is versatile, I think the first time he came in we said that his versatility is the key and we see him as one that can play anywhere across the front. So, that is why we have got him in, we need that type of player at the club at the moment.
JP
How is Matty Robson getting on with his injury? How far off might he be now?
GA
I couldn't answer that exactly, he is still having a bit of a problem, he stiffens up when we do too much too quickly. So, I think we are just being a bit patient with him, I don't think, well he is not going to be around the side for Monday but hopefully by the end of the week we might see him back on the training ground. But, I think we have got to tread on broken glass with him a little bit, there are a lot of things that can go wrong with backs and he is finding it difficult to relieve himself of pain, so we need to be patient.
JP
Any idea what it is that is in the back that is causing him the pain and discomfort there?
GA
You had better move on to my physiotherapist (Neil Dalton) with all those letters after his name and all those qualifications. He has got a bad back.
JP
Craig Curran, how is he getting on with his injury now? How far off might he be?
GA
He is getting better, he is getting better, he is going to do some physical work with Dolly (Neil Dalton) this morning, if he comes through that then we might see him round the training ground the back end of next week. So, that will be a bonus, but the one thing with Craig is that he won't need much fitness work, that is his strength. He has had discomfort in his knee but he thinks he might have just got to the back of that and again it is so complicated a knee with what can go on and what is in there that I couldn't exactly give you a diagnosis there either. But, he seems to be pain free right now, so hopefully after this physical thing he will go through today he should be free of that.
JP
Onto the weekend's game then, or not quite the weekend, onto Monday's game, under the lights on Monday night and in front of the television cameras, is it nice to see Carlisle United get that big stage feel about one of their games?
GA
Yeah, I mean you can see SKY have travelled a million miles haven't they to cover one of our games, 183 yards down the road from their offices. So, they have gone to a lot of trouble to get this game on, so I always remind them of that because they don't like coming up to Cumbria. But, listen, we shall certainly enjoy maybe the focus we get, but I think the key for us is putting on a good performance because a lot of people watch these games, there is always interest in them.
I watch every League One or League Two game, whatever it is, even Conference games when they were on SKY. That is the great thing about the coverage that they have got, they give you access to clubs that probably you wouldn't see or you find it difficult to see, the Torquays and the Gillinghams and people like that in League Two down south. So, it is great exposure for the players, for the club, and we need to make sure we take it with both hands and try to encourage them to get on the M6 and head north.
JP
Can all of the extra interest be in any way a distraction? Frank Simek was in the local paper today talking about that they have got to make sure they concentrate and remember that it is just one game, can these things sort of get into the players' heads and take their mind of what they are there supposed to be doing?
GA
I have to say that to be brutally honest I have never even thought about it until you mentioned it. It doesn't really make a scrap of difference to me, all I am interested in is taking the team, preparing the team and trying to win a game. It is you that has brought it up and it is you that reminds people of it, I don't mean that in any other way, but our focus is on football, you have mentioned it and it is the first time it has been mentioned to be honest, we don't even talk about it.
JP
Any other injury problems ahead of the game? Anyone else a bit of a doubt?
GA
At the minute, touch this little piece of wooden table in front of me, no we are alright.
JP
A long trip down the for the Carlisle fans down to London too?
GA
I would say to the London Branch to go and watch the game live, I would say to the ones to stay at home and watch it on television and don’t spend your money, save it for the home games.
JP
Really?
GA
Oh, absolutely, yeah, it is a long trip down there and they go to some expense and some time to follow this club all over the place, and it is an opportunity maybe for them to save their pennies for the home games, back us at home, support us at home. It is a four or five o’clock-er in the morning when you get back, it is live on television, get your armchair out, cup of tea, let the London Branch do their bit this week and save the coffers and put them into our account for the home games.
JP
You know there will be those that won’t though, how important are those? They are the core ones of this football club aren’t they?
GA
No, I am not stopping them, they are legends with the travel they do and the support they give us. We look at the support from other teams coming here and it is embarrassing compared to the group we take away near enough all over the country. We take really large numbers, I know we are swelled with the London Branch but we have a local group, I was at MK Dons and obviously the game was off and a local group set off at about three o’clock in the morning to get there, phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal.
So, they will still go but I am saying save your money if you possibly can and use it for home games but they enjoy watching the club and if they do they get that buzz out of it they have to go and they have to be there and we will be massively appreciative of their support for the lads that will get down there and the ladies that will get down there.
JP
In terms of the side you will be taking on in Brentford, they are a side who are a changing and evolving team under Uwe Rosler, a slightly disappointing result for them with the late goals and a defeat against Colchester. What do you make of them a side? How do you think they have changed from the side that you beat in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Final?
GA
Well, they have got obviously a new staff in and a new manager and the team has evolved, there are a lot of players in and out. I think the shape of the team changes, I am not sure they know their best shape at the minute, they have got some really strong players. They have got a big squad and they have that problem then of knowing their best side and their best formation, and I think Uwe is spending this season finding out all about League One, finding out all about his players and his club and trying to find the right formula to mount a challenge, which I am sure they will at some point because they have got some big backing and some big players. The structure there is changing and probably this first season they will say they have done OK, but I think next season they will be really looking to be around the top six of the division, and they are not out of it as speak right now.
JP
They have always been a very physical side but with quality in there as well, and they haven’t changed so much that that won’t be the case, do you think we can expect the same sort of game from them that we have had in recent years?
GA
They are a tough side defensively, absolutely tough side defensively, they have got some big players, they are terrific at set-pieces, I think if you look at some of their past performances they have scored a lot of goals from set-pieces late on, big Leon Legge is an issue with that, Gary Alexander for his size is terrific in the air. They have got three midfield players that are all over six foot, so they are a physical side and we have to be wary of that and perhaps try to keep the ball and move it on the grass and move it quickly. But, they are organised defensively, very, very solid and powerful and a definite threat with the pace they have got in the team and the size they have got in the team.
JP
Was Uwe Rösler someone you ever had any experience of as a player?
GA
Yeah, I watched him a few times, a very good lad, a very good player, I wouldn’t mind somebody like him in our team at the moment now Lee is out. But, a good player and played at the highest level all his career mostly in England and had a great career, and now he has carved himself out his niche as a manager.
JP
Final game without Lee Miller on Monday, you talked about how much of a miss he has been in these games, do you want to just elaborate more on how much he does mean to the side and how important he can be?
GA
Not really, because I have not got him, so I think after the game I was more upset with the decision, the decision that made him unavailable and the way it did affect us. But, we will get through the game on Monday and we will revisit that argument as to whether it was a right or wrong decision and whether we can cope without that type of player. He is important to the way we play but we haven’t got him on Monday so we need to move on with that.
JP
Having noticed how much he was missed on Tuesday night, have you been working on ways to try to eradicate that void in the side for this game against Brentford then?
GA
I could give you a really naughty answer, but I won’t. No, listen, we are trying to find a formation that suits us while he is not available, we have worked on a lot of things this week and we are going to work on a lot of things again today, tomorrow and Sunday and hopefully come up with the right one. It is not always easy because at League One sometimes you are forced to throw the ball into the box and throw it in in the air and we haven’t got natural winners of the ball there. They have got two powerful centre-halves so we have got to find a different way and that is what we have been working on.
JP
What was the naughty answer?
GA
I can’t tell you as this is going to out live.