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" I'm probably as happy with the Southend result as I was with the Crewe and the Yeovil results because they were good wins, four goals a time, but we had to really dig this out I think on Saturday. It was a banana skin for us as well, we'd scored those goals at home, they had conceded nine in their last two, and the facts of life are that that is not going to continue.
" So we have had to work really hard to get the result, a goal down as well tested everybody's resolve and I'm really pleased that we have come out on top of it. Not the best game and not one that people will remember for a long time but the result is important in games like that. Because you can send people home at least happy with that, that your team has won.
" They got the first goal and I don't blame them for spoiling, I have been here with other teams and have done exactly the same myself, so I can't criticise that. I think that a team that comes and opens up against us finds live difficult because we are a good side in an open game, so I recognise that and I appreciate that.
" So we have got to work hard, I think that Greg (Abbott) used the phrase at half-time that we had got to find a way to win the game. That was the half-time talk about how we were going to do it, and fortunately we did. We knew that if we could get wide, and certainly with Simon (Hackney) and Cleveland (Taylor) then we have got players in good form delivering, with obviously Cleveland finishing his off as well.
" So those were areas that we needed to make it pay because we didn't get there as often as we had done in previous games. So once you get there you have got to make sure that you get something out of it, and fortunately we did. Certainly the second goal, Simon has done very, very well and has picked out Danny (Graham), who has picked out Cleveland, who has picked out the net, so that is how it worked. "
" I'm sure that Danny is the first to recognise that the reward for his award is for the team-work that we are putting in. You hear me say it a lot, that is about everybody and if we win then we all win, that type of thing. If Danny wins that then we all win that I think, it is an individual award quite rightly so, and well deserved by Danny.
" He'll tell you that he can't get those goals unless people are doing what I have just said though, putting those crosses in and working hard for him in other parts of the pitch. So it's a real recognition for Danny individually but collectively it is for Carlisle United as well and we are pleased with that.
" 176 goals compared to 124 in the first five league games in this division is a huge difference. I think that there are better players filtering down the leagues. I think that we have got good players here, I have said that before but I think that there are some really good teams in our league, and certainly good forward players.
" I looked at the Southend bench on Saturday and they had (James) Walker and Paul Furlong on the bench. Two really good players that possibly really should be starting, but then I have got (Gary) Madine and (Michael) Bridges and (Scott) Dobie not there yet. So I think that is right the way through this league, there are some very, very good forward players into this division. Maybe the football is a little bit more open and it is certainly attractive and certainly enjoyable.
" I am not trying to advocate League One football but I got a little bit fed up with Aston Villa v Liverpool on television and a 0-0 the other afternoon. I was thinking that these clubs, some of these big boys are losing a bit of identity, but people like Southend United, Scunthorpe United next Saturday and, particularly us at Carlisle, are keeping our identities with the fans. Maybe we will just start to improve our attendances as well as the football that has been on show. "
" Even Peterborough 5-4 Bristol Rovers wasn't a silly game at all, I watched that game while getting prepared for our match. It wasn't a daft game where people are saying that that is what happens in lower league football. There were some good goals in that and (Craig) Mackail-Smith showed what a good player he is.
" Then (Rickie) Lambert's free-kick and things like that, there was an inventive free-kick for Bristol Rovers' first goal. A lot of good things in terms of forward football in that game, I know that the managers will decry their defending, but if we want to bring people in to watch us in these leagues then that sort of football will encourage it.
" Paul Thirlwell has missed Monday and Tuesday but he should be OK for the weekend. He took a whack right at the end of the game on Saturday. Danny Carlton had taken a knock in the game but he is OK, he has trained right the way through. So at the moment just Paul but we are expecting him to be back in on Thursday and cracking on for the weekend.
" We have got two big games coming up, we have got Scunthorpe and Leeds United and we expect them both to be top-six games. We just had that before when Yeovil came up and we managed to deal with that one, but these two are, in a sense with respect, different proposition.
" Scunthorpe United have come down with that Championship league experience, Leeds United as we all know, they are the big club with the big squad. So those two games are really going to test our ability and our resolve to the full I think. It is very important that we are prepared for those games, as we have been recently. We know that they are going to be tough so any rewards from that are going to be welcome. "
" Saturday was a pretty rotten day and probably even during the morning people were wondering if the pitch was going to hold up with the weather that we have had. I think that Morecambe had a pitch inspection and that is not too far away. So all those things add a little bit of doubt to it, but I was really pleased with the crowd. It was pretty quiet because the game was quiet but they certainly lifted towards the end and have gone home happy, and hopefully we can do that a few more times here at Brunton Park.
" Ronnie (Wallwork) is still here, he is going to play, we have got a reserve game on Wednesday away at Morecambe and Ronnie is going to play in that. That is totally open-ended though as I keep saying is the situation, Ronnie is free, we are free to make decisions and we are happy to have him. I think that he is enjoying himself here and he is getting his football fitness, but it is purely open-ended, there are no promises either side on that.
" Chris Lumsdon is still going through his six-week process. It is a tough time for the fellow, he is a real livewire is Chris but he is very quiet at the moment as you would understand. The team has done exceptionally well, he is missing out on something special for a footballer and nobody can do anything about it. He understands that and he has just got to wait and bide his time I am afraid.
" Scott Dobie trying to force his way back in is why I keep saying about my squad being strong and being as good as it is when it is on form. I think that everybody recognises the part that Cleveland has played in the last three games without Scott being there. So Scott himself will wonder what a time it was for him to come out of the team. That is exactly what I as the manager am trying to achieve, a squad that is capable.
" If I have got players like Scott Dobie that can't get in then I know that we have got a good team out on the pitch in the starting line-up. The pressure is there though and Dobie, if he is in the background, is putting pressure on those guys who are actually putting pressure on him in the first place. So what goes around comes around, I am sure that Scott will get his opportunity somewhere sometime to come back in and make a contribution to this team, as they all will. "
" I'm OK with the pressure of selecting, it is my job anyway, I know that I am going to affect people all the time with my decisions. I disappoint people and I make them happy in terms of whether I pick them or not, but I think that the plus side of it is that people like Scott Dobie and those guys recognise what is going on ahead of them in team. They can appreciate that the manager is not going to make too many alterations to that.
" It doesn't affect me though, I'm not going to say that just because the team has won again that there won't be a change here and there. I look at the opposition, look at what we need to do, where we are playing, who we are playing, what I see from the players that I have got in the side at the moment, and make that decision along with my staff. I have got no yes men next door, they come and tell me quite straight what they think.
" I make the decision in the end but the plus side is that we have got this strength of squad when everybody is fit that has people pushing. You look at Saturday, Grant Smith, Jeff Smith, Josh Gowling and Scott Dobie have not got a shirt, 16 players have gone out and won and we are second in the league. So that shows some strength to the group that we have got here and long may that continue.
" We are going to need them, I have said all along that we are going to need them. Perhaps some of those fellows think that they are never going to get a chance but they will. There are games coming up thick and fast, some months there are four games, some there are seven, some there are eight, you are just going to need all those people.
" I just keep my fingers crossed that I keep them fit, because they are going to be required as this season moves on. That is why we need to keep the first-team in good nick, so that when we get people like Chris Lumsdon back, Scott Dobie is available again, they are coming into a good squad and a good team that is doing pretty well. "