United boss Greg Abbott (GA) spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's James Phillips (JP) after Carlisle's 4-3 defeat away to Brighton, Abbott saying that it was a great game for the neutral :
JP
Sum up that match, amazing but heartbreaking at the same time I am sure?
GA
Yeah, it is disappointing, it is a great game for the neutral, it is a great game for everybody commenting and doing your job. But, for us I have got a dressing room that is on its knees, they have put in a tremendous shift throughout the game and battled back, got ourselves in front, battled back twice and we think we have done enough to nick a point and they hit a worldy strike in the last minute and you get nothing, you get nothing out of a game where you think our determination maybe deserved us something.
JP
The way that Brighton harry you on the ball, they make it so difficult don't they, they are some side it must be said?
GA
Yeah, they are top of the league, they are a good side, but we have proved we are a good side too.
JP
What do you think about the way that you didn't at times defend some of their goals?
GA
That is probably the one thing in the game that we are disappointed about, our defending today wasn't as good as it can be. It (Brighton) is a good side, they do score a lot of goals but we think that we could have defended better at times, that is probably the one disappointment out of the thing today.
JP
What about the spirit of it though keeping going against a side who were piling on the pressure at times?
GA
You wouldn't expect any different from the team, our team, our spirit is fantastic, you know it never gives up, it never dies, there are some really good characters in there and that is one thing that has come to the fore yet again today and our spirit and determination nearly got us a point. But, that is the disappointment, we haven't got one.
JP
What have you gone through on the bench when that late goal went in?
GA
Well, it is extreme disappointment, I am standing here being surrounded by people who have seen a tremendous game and we have just seen a point snatched from my grasp, and it makes the journey home a lot less sweeter. It sort of kills it for an hour or two and it takes a bit of time to rally the troops round. But, the boys have put in a tremendous shift and we feel that for that alone we deserve something out of this game, what we contributed to it.
JP
It is of course an end to a great run of form that you have had away from home, but with a performance like that you will hope that you can carry that into Tuesday and start a good one now at Brunton Park?
GA
Yeah, that is the thing we have talked about in there, is take all the good points out of today into Tuesday and we know we need to work on one or two other things, but you have got to take all the good points out of this into Tuesday, and try to go again with the same sort of energy.
People say you could be tired, you could be this, you could be the other, but we didn't look too tired today, they were full of energy and full of drive and full of response to whatever Brighton threw at us. You can see by their (Brighton's) reaction how much it meant to them and how far down they had to dig to get something out of the game, so we have frightened them.
JP
Is it a case that you need to learn a few lessons in terms of the defending or is it just the amount of pressure that you are under against a side like Brighton?
GA
It is easy to say you have got to learn, you are talking about if it is a 4-3 game or a 5-4 game then you are always going to have defending not at its best, and today both sides never defended very well. The easy thing to say is of course we can learn, we try to be better defensively and there were only five teams in this league conceded fewer goals than us, so our defending has been pretty decent through the year. But, today it wasn't and that is ultimately what has cost us the game.
JP
What about Francois Zoko's second-half? He came in, he has had a bit of a spell out of that first-team fold where he has been pretty much a natural selection, and he looked like he was up for it?
GA
Well, you would expect him to be up for it because he is part of our team, so if he was any different he wouldn't be in it. That is why he comes on and that is why we hope he makes a contribution. But, he is only like one of a number, he is one of 20, we needed something different, we needed a bit of quality, we found bits and pieces of quality from him but I will expect that, I do expect that, so do the fans.
JP
You have got options in the back line for your coming games, Liam Cooper back in today, that is good news, and we believe that Lubo Michalik is not too far off now?
GA
Yeah, that is right, Liam is back with us now, he has travelled down and was on the bench today, and obviously Lubo I think joins in full training on Monday.
JP
That is excellent news, any injuries coming out of the game?
GA
No.
JP
So, all guns blazing for Tuesday and hoping to carry on the momentum?
GA
Yeah, we have just got to keep playing like we have been playing, we will win more than we lose if we play like that. But, we probably need to defend a bit better if we want to put a real decent run together. But, there were too many positives to talk about negatives today from the way the boys have performed and what they have contributed to this wonderful game.