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" We lost a lot of games at Cheltenham Town last year, we didn't even draw a game until we got into the middle of December. So we went through a really tough spell but then came through it and managed to keep ourselves in League One which was the first time they'd done that there. Alan (Buckley) is a very old stage manager, he's been around and seen it and got the t-shirts, he'll know that he has just got to keep calm.
" He'll know that if he can get the right result against us tomorrow then everything perks up for him and his team. You tend to have to stick to your basics with your footballers and pick what your best team was probably some time ago. You might have tinkered around a bit during the period of trying to get a result. I think eventually you say that - right that is the best team, it was four or five weeks ago, it still is now so let's put it out there.
" You console yourself with that and say this is were we are going, when players then see that you've settled and that the whole thing has settled down then maybe they can respond. They've got a terrific opportunity to do that against us, we've just got to be on our guard and make sure that we're on top of this game as well.
" It (Luton) might have been even a better result than the Leeds one because everyone is up for that, the crowd is big, everything is going well for Leeds and somewhere along the line they are going to get toppled. For us then to get back on our feet as it were training-wise, on the coach on Monday, travelling down and having this big game.
" Because they had only lost one out of their previous seven at home and had scored fifteen goals, two goals a game they had scored at home. So it was no mean feat to go and get a very, very positive result, to keep ourselves top of the table as well because other results were in our favour then it was a real reward for the team. "
" We talked about keeping seven clean sheets in the league this morning, it does tell it's own story. We've got good defenders and a good goalkeeper, if we can keep people at bay then we also know that we can maybe find a goal at the other end. When it's not to be, as it wasn't on Tuesday, then we still come away with something that is nice for the club and nice for the team. So there is a whole gambit of putting things together to get your right results, and certainly that defending unit is very strong at the moment.
" I said at the time after Luton that I hadn't actually realised they (Southend, Leeds and Luton) were the three teams that had come down out of the Championship. So it may be an even better period of results for us I think in retrospect when you look at it that way. With two of those matches being away from home both at Southend and Luton and beating the unbeaten side, Leeds United, in a fantastic home game really puts the icing on a good period of games for us.
" As everything though, and as you are going to expect me to say, we are only a quarter of the way through but when you are that you want to be in the position that we are in. Those three games give everybody the belief that we can push on. We don't play a league fixture now for quite a little while but when it does come at Brighton at the end of this month we are still going to be in the top part of the division regardless of other results in games that people might play. Those seven points are a really big cushion for us because we've lost the Forest game.
" We are, at the moment, the top team in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy because we are top of League One but having said that it's a massive draw the Northern Section of that. There are clubs like obviously Leeds United in there and to even get to the final through the Northern Section will be an achievement in itself.
" Certainly I don't need to tell the fans of Carlisle United what this competition means though, because they have also been there and experienced a really good period of time in those games. So two big games for me, they are equally as big as the games that we have just talked about in the league because I am a big believer that form can continue in both competitions and it's something that we have got to work very hard to do. "
" Tomorrow I won't tinker with the side in the FA Cup, we might have a look at one or two things on Tuesday. I would defy anybody to tell me that when I look at my substitutes bench on Tuesday night at Luton that if any of those guys stepped into the team I'd be making it weaker. They infact can make it stronger and they are in good condition fitness wise, they want to get a part of what is going on in the first-team. So certainly not tomorrow, we'll have a little look, we can't play Joe Anyinsah anyway tomorrow but we'll certainly have a look at Tuesday but without weakening anything and belittling Stockport County, as I certainly want to win that game as well.
" Joe (Anyinsah) is fine, he's had a previous operation on the knee which has just caused a little bit of discomfort over the last couple of weeks. He was a substitute at Yeovil when we had the same sort of problem but he's now been back to Preston, seen the specialist that performed the operation and he has put everybody's mind at rest.
" While he says that there may be some slight discomfort he is certainly not going to damage the knee any further. So Joe comes back with a clear bill of health if you like and a clear mind which is even more important. Although Preston won't let him play tomorrow he is available for Tuesday so we just carry on now and push Joe's career further forward hopefully.
" He (Paul Thirlwell) saw the specialist again today and got a good report on that so again it's a question of keeping going now with Paul and pushing further ahead. Get him out a little bit more on the grass which we've done this week and certainly start pushing him along. The next stage will be to see about getting close to playing some football in the squad on the training ground and then get a game or two which will be great for him. I haven't seen Paul play but he's been a big influence for us, he'll be in that dressing room tomorrow getting the boys going but you can bet your life that he is absolutely missing this period of good results that we are getting.
" I had a year as a player at Grimsby Town, there will be a lot of clubs like that though I've been around that long. I had a little time at Grimsby Town, I'm a Lincolnshire person myself from Lincoln, not far away, we had a lot of big games in my playing career against Grimsby Town. So I'm very much aware of them and I'm very much respectful of them. When you listen to Alan Buckley talking there is a bit of grit and determination in his voice about getting this result right tomorrow, and I've got to have the same in mind when I talk to my team. "