United boss Greg Abbott (GA) spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's James Phillips (JP) following Carlisle's 1-1 pre-season friendly draw away to Workington, Abbott less than pleased with the performance of the Blues in the game:
JP
Satisfied with that?
GA
No, I am less than pleased, I thought we were pretty ordinary tonight. It is pre-season and the key is getting through games and getting fitter and not getting too many injuries, but we have picked up another injury. We have probably got a bit fitter but I thought our quality at times through the game wasn’t where we need it to be. It doesn’t help playing two separate teams and lots and lots of young players in there, but we have got to be better than that. It is three weeks before the season starts and we have to improve very, very quickly.
JP
Is that work to do on the training ground do you think?
GA
Yeah, we do it every day, we will work morning and afternoon again tomorrow and Thursday, probably Friday will be a single session. They will be tired but we have got a lot of young players and we owe them to put a lot of work in. You have seen tonight, there is a lot of hype about our young players and there is a lot of belief in our young players, but today they have probably learnt more in terms of where they are in respect of getting into our squad and being part of our first team squad.
That is tough for them today and there were some performances today that need a lot of work on, and they have got to remember that they don’t have to listen to too much hype from outside. They need to listen to what we are telling them and progress properly at the right levels and always take every game and treat it with the most amount of respect it deserves.
Because, this was the most important game of their careers because do you know why, it was their next game, and now they have got to look forward to the next game. We have got to try to get these players through and get them developed and not ever let them rest on their laurels. Tonight I thought it was a bit of a learning curve for them.
JP
Workington Reds take a lot of credit for the scoreline though and for their work-rate?
GA
Workington were absolutely tremendous in terms of the gulf and the levels between the two squads. They were terrific, absolutely fantastic, but my job is to be interested in my team and my lot and that is for me to worry about. Looking at Workington tonight they might be favourites to do really well in their league looking at us.
But, there are reasons for that with the two sides and the amount of young players and the injuries to Liam Noble, we were without an experienced midfield player for most of the game and there are four young kids in there in the second-half all learning their trade. So, it just shows you that you can’t throw them all in at the same time, and we were very, very young at the end weren’t we.
JP
Yeah, Liam Noble, what is his situation with his injury, any idea what he has done?
GA
He has twisted his ankle and I am hoping it is not too serious because we have lost James Berrett last week and we lost Nobza, they were going to be the engine room for us next season I would have thought. It is crushing for us and we need to make sure that they get fit quickly, hopefully Bez isn’t as serious but Nobza looks a sore one and hopefully it settles down over the night, but we are desperate to have them fit and ready for the start.
JP
Any idea on the duration for Berrett, obviously I know it is a bit early for Liam Noble?
GA
He feels a lot better so hopefully by the middle of next week he will be back in training.
JP
In terms of the young players, when Patrick Brough came on it was another very positive bit of impact from him, I thought he was a highlight for you?
GA
Yeah, he did OK, he did OK, but he is a way off starting first team football. He is a second year apprentice, we are talking about second year apprentices up against hardened criminals. We will have a lot of young players involved with the squad anyway. It was encouraging his half an hour stint but he is one that he needs bags and bags of time.
But, he will train with us on a regular basis, what we are doing is we are introducing him and the likes of Kyle Dempsey and Connor Thomson into the group to train with us to try to speed up that development. But, they are babies these lads we are talking about and we have got four or five older than him that are pushing already and are going to be round the squad.
JP
Glad to see Josh Gillies back in there and a super ball that led to the penalty that saw you equalise?
GA
Yeah, and we have talked with Josh about that type of play, that type of pass, and getting him on the ball in those types of positions. He is again, he has had a bit of a hard time from me as well about his level from Gateshead to here, and he is enjoying the facilities and he is enjoying the training and he likes being part of a league club.
What we have told him now is that he has got to quickly step up to the mark and be a professional player in a professional league two leagues up than what he has ever been used to. Those are the hardened facts of the matter, but he is a good kid, he is a street kid, he wants to learn and he wants to listen. But, I don’t want him to get carried away with it that he is at a league club, he has got to fight just as hard as he did last year and when he was at Whitley Bay and people like that.
JP
You have said that there are elements that you have not been so happy with tonight, what do you want to do next yourself and what do you want to see next yourself from the players?
GA
Well, listen, if we put our best eleven out tonight, all our senior players and our best of our young players, then we would probably have a different type of result. But, what we are seeing is everybody, we are seeing everybody, and we are ticking off people that we know are going to be part of the first team, we are probably crossing off others that we think at the moment aren’t going to be part of the first team squad.
So, we found all that out tonight, that is what these types of games tell you and we probably look at that thinking the depth of the squad isn’t as large as it needs to be. Especially when you are losing two senior midfield players, they are going to be pivotal in what we are trying to do, and then in behind that we need four or five ready to come in and not let the levels drop. Looking at that tonight we might have a problem, but we just go on the training ground and work and work and work, that is all we can do.
JP
Are you any closer to decisions on any of your trialists at this this stage? Any who perhaps aren’t going to make the distance?
GA
I would never do that, I mean we have never spoken to anybody just straight after a game, and I would never do that. But, we are getting answers from them as well, so we will probably look at the middle of next week and let them know first and then let you guys know.
JP
Is Lewis Guy still on a longer term situation?
GA
Yeah, Lewis is alright, Lewis has got two weeks, we want Lewis to just settle down. I felt sorry for him and Mark Beck today, the service up to them was pretty ordinary.
JP
Some good runs though from Lewis?
GA
Yeah, well that is his game, he darts off people, and we have got to find those types of balls to thread into his path of those runs. But, we never really got hold of it in the middle of the pitch and you are looking at the four young players all in at once, it was very difficult for them and that causes you a problem to get the service up to the front men. But, Lewis has got plenty of time at the moment.
JP
And you have got the family fun day coming up which is an important thing that the club are very happy to be doing on Sunday, everyone involved in that and a chance for the fans once again to see the players in a training session?
GA
Yeah, I mean they are going to see us in a fierce training session on Sunday. It is because it is part of our programme, I wasn’t overly happy, because it was going to be on a Saturday, with having a weekend off without a game. But, we are going to train properly for an hour and a quarter and I mean really, really fierce.
The people will see how we work and then we are going to have a shower, have a sandwich and then we are going to have a bit of fun with everybody and try to get everybody encouraged to come down and meet the players and meet the staff and meet the backroom people and everybody. We can have a really good day where we try to lift the spirits of everybody and look forward to a really tough season ahead.
JP
And just finally then, your next friendly then comes on Tuesday I think I am right in saying, I won’t be here for that one, but what will be the approach, what will you build up to for that one?
GA
Yeah, there is a double edge to that, it is going to be a base where we can train on the way down to away games. They are letting us have it for free if we did the friendly, so we are going to play a strong side and we will probably play a lot of 90 minutes there. That team will be as strong as the team we leave behind who are going to train morning and afternoon. So, it is like a training day game the level they are at, but we want them to raise some money and then allow us to use the training facility en route to away games next season.