United boss Greg Abbott (GA) spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's James Phillips (JP) following Carlisle's 2-1 League One win away to Tranmere, Abbott saying that tonight was an important result after four defeats in a row :
JP
You must be delighted after finally getting that victory under your belt?
GA
Yeah, we are trying to do well in this league programme this year, that is not to say we didn't want to win any of the cups and have good runs in the cups. But, it doesn't half test your resources when you are travelling in cup games and in league games with the size of the squad we have got. But, tonight I think was an important result after the.... if you top them all up they are only two in the league but with the cups it is four and we have bounced back tonight. We probably deserved the victory overall but it was well earned, or toughly earned, and we came under a bit of pressure late on as you would expect.
JP
A game of two halves it was really wasn't it because Carlisle utterly dominated the first but then an early goal for Tranmere made it a little bit squeaky bum time in the second?
GA
Yeah, I mean, listen, teams that come here are going to have to stand up and battle and scrap, these won't lose many here this season because of the way they play. They are direct, they boom the ball forward, you have to be on your guard, you have to win your second balls, you have to defend brave. But, first half we managed to get hold of it and pass it but they didn't, they weren't interested in passing in the second half, they just put us under massive pressure from back to front.
It is very difficult not to get involved in that, we couldn't get a hold of the ball really but even then still created a couple of half chances, good half chances where you needed the third goal maybe to settle us down, and the fact that we have lost four on the trot makes life even harder to get that victory and a bit of nervousness maybe spread in. But, overall I thought they were terrific, the characters, there is a really good set of characters in the dressing room and like I have said before many a time, we love working with them and they give you a lot of honesty. I think they have given us a lot of honesty and that might just have got them across the line to get the three points.
JP
Quite a lot of bite in there, a couple of yellow cards for your team tonight, but was it important to make sure you were involved in that physical battle with this tough Tranmere team?
GA
For once, and I don't want people to take to this the wrong way, I am delighted that we have got yellow cards because it means that we are competing, it means we are putting our bodies on the line, and it means we are trying to compete the best we can and people have to really work hard for victories. Some of the bookings might have just saved us the ball getting higher up the pitch and into our dangerous areas and causing us more problems. So, I have no problem with them tackling and picking up bookings for tackling, I don't want silly bookings but they were the right type tonight.
JP
And also going in there and not getting bullied by some of the bigger players in that Tranmere back line, the likes of (Lee) Miller and (Rory) Loy really gave as good as they got tonight?
GA
Yeah, I mean I thought first half the pair of them were absolutely outstanding and looked a real, real handful, and we have just said that we haven't had that so much as a pair, we have had it one but not the other at times, but not two together. But, Rory was running the channels, putting people on the back foot, clever with the ball, Lee was winning his physical battles and winning his aerial challenges.
He has got his goal, Rory has won us a penalty and they looked a real threat together, and we need that to improve, and we need Craig (Curran) and Paddy (Madden) as well to come to that partnership as well and add their little bit as and when. Like we said to the whole of the group, they are all involved and they will all get opportunities and they will all get chances like the whole group has after eight or nine games in the league. We want to go together, we win together and we lose together, but tonight there was a real collective effort.
JP
Were you glad to see James Berrett pull rank as the senior penalty taker tonight, because Rory Loy wanted it, he had set up one and he had earnt the penalty and he wanted it?
GA
Yeah, James is the penalty taker so he takes them and he scored so that is that. Rory is not the penalty taker but he is a striker and he wants goals, he won the penalty but that is his job to win them, James does take them until we decide to do something different. As long as it goes in I'm not really too bothered who takes them but it is James's job and he will get another one after he has put one in tonight.
JP
What had been the things that you have got right this week then? What are the things that have come together for you to get this performance and this result?
GA
I think belief, we believe in the players and we believe in the group. We think on our day we can play good football, we have got to play effective football, we have got to be tougher in terms of defending our goal and we have got to work harder when we lose the ball, and I thought the lads worked exceptionally hard tonight all across the pitch. We could have possibly kept the ball a little bit better second half at times but the type of game that it developed into it is very difficult at this level to do that. But, character, belief, determination, don't give anything away easy and you will get your rewards, and I think the harder you work you do get those rewards, and tonight we did.
JP
No goalkeeper on the bench tonight, were you just looking to have more outfield options?
GA
Yeah, it is as simple as that, I was going to say exactly.............. They were the exact words, it just gives us another option and you take a chance sometimes, we won't be doing it every week but we felt if we needed to get genuine width we had Andy (Welsh) and we had J-P (Jon-Paul McGovern) ready to come on and give us that, so that was the reason for that. The only time we are probably going to use Mark (Gillespie) just at the moment is an injury to Adam (Collin), so we were thanking the Lord that he didn't go under, and he hasn't done, so we got away with that one.
JP
Have you got one of those players who fancies himself as a keeper if needs be in that situation then?
GA
Yeah, Danny Livesey, but we need somebody to take the goal-kicks for him, he is OK with his hands, it is off the floor he struggles.
JP
In terms of the next one up then it is a tough trip to Chesterfield, they have won tonight but it is only their eighth, well sixth, seventh and eighth point of the season, but they will be delighted with that with that victory over Bury, a tough one for you?
GA
Yeah, listen, they are all tough, but I mean your man next to me (Derek Mountfield) gave us a bit of a boost when he said unbeaten on the road again, and tonight we have managed to keep that going. That gives you a bit of encouragement to think well, hang on a minute, we haven't been beat away, I think it is three wins and a draw is it, something like that.
So, that is an encouragement and Chesterfield is a lovely stadium now compared to Saltergate which isn't a lovely stadium. This is a nice one and we can go into it full of optimism again, they are on a bit of a run, they have won their last two but we have to go there and get another good result. But, maybe at the minute it is suiting us playing away from home, we can play our football, pass it round, there is a little bit more expectancy on the home crowd and we are benefitting from that a bit.
JP
Not liking the historical stadiums then?
GA
Saltergate?
JP
Yeah.
GA
They should have blown it up about 50 years ago.