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" It does seem like a long time since we've had a league game at home. I think it's because it's been so bitty through the month of November when we lost the Forest game through international call-ups and then you miss out on things and you miss your last Saturday's game because we are not in the FA Cup. So one is down to us anyway, it's our own fault, but we crack back on Tuesday night and again Saturday and hopefully they will come thick and fast after that, and the players can enjoy it.
" It will be nice to get back into it, especially if the supporters feel like you and I that they have missed football for a little while and they want to come out and get a decent weather evening. Then people can come and get that support going for us as well because when you get the lights here at Carlisle and the support behind you and the team playing well then it's a terrific evening in prospect. They are a difficult side to play against are Swindon, I saw them on Saturday so it will be a tough game and we'll need a little bit of help.
" It is important to cash in on the home games if you can, they are not easy, I've said that I have seen Swindon play and they are a tough side. They'll be looking to impress a new manager somewhere along the line as well, they are going through that stage at their club. So don't expect anything to be easy, if we can get our home form right, which we have done generally at home in the league certainly. We've been a good opponent for anybody and hopefully we can do that again on Tuesday.
" They certainly played well enough on Saturday in their first game without Paul Sturrock. In that difficult position it was a game that they could have lost. Had they been in that mood thinking that they weren't sure what was going on then they would have been beaten and gone out of the FA Cup, but they didn't.
" They came back against a non-league side which shows that they have got certain characters about them anyway, three goals as well they have scored. I think that players can get affected by things off the pitch but once they put their shirts and boots on then everything else goes away and they are just out there to win.
" He (Richard Keogh) is in and amongst the boys now, he is our player for this period so he's got to know people, we've got to know him and I think he has enjoyed his time here so far. Players are pretty good at settling in, Richard is a single guy and he's come up on his own, he's just got to settle in to the football. I think that it's tougher when you come with a girl or a wife and they don't really come across anybody but the players have got 20 friends on the first day in. "
" Everyone, certainly at this club, are very helpful and very good at helping people settle in. I think that Richard knew one or two of the boys anyway, he had been at Bristol City with Joe Anyinsah and he knew Kevin Gall from his time in the South-West. So there were some familiar faces for him early on.
" No news on Joe Ayninsah yet, we'll just leave that to tick along at least another week or so. Again they have got a new manager in there in Alan Irvine so they know what the position is at that football club. Alan has got to settle in and have a look at his squad in Preston first but no doubt at some stage we'll have to have a chat.
" I've felt comfortable in my own position for a long time, the first couple of weeks the early results were terrific and the players have taken to what we are trying to do. I don't think that we have thrown anything too different at them either but it's just re-emphasising certain points. Maybe my phrases or voice is a little different to other peoples but we don't complicate things, we try to make things OK for everybody to get on together and hopefully it will work.
" We've got one or two players we are looking at but I think that a manager is judged on the decisions he makes. Sometimes you can be deemed not to have made a decision by keeping the players that you have got, when you are infact making a good decision by keeping the players you have got. I've got some good players here and I've said all along that my first views of those lads in that present position is that we need to add to the squad.
" Not to change it, not to replace people, Richard Keogh has added to the group so far, Joe Anyinsah certainly was here before I came so he has been added to the squad. That's what we've got to try to do in January with one or two new faces to make it stronger so that if and when we may get one or two injuries or suspensions we can cope with it and it doesn't disrupt the results sequence.
" You've got to expect offers for your players, sometimes it might come out of the blue but at the moment I have had no calls off anybody. Then again though I haven't made any either to anybody because it's not that right time yet. If anything happens then it will come towards the end of this month I guess. We'll just have to deal with it as and when, there is no point speculating or wondering who it might be or what to do, we've just got to deal with it if and when it happens. Hopefully it doesn't from my point of view but certainly players would like to go a bit higher if they can. "