United's first home opponents of 2019 are promotion hopefuls Mansfield Town who will be looking to maintain their assault on the top three places in the division.
Unbeaten in 17 league games, and having lost just once in League Two this season, Mansfield will certainly provide a stiff test for the Cumbrians on Saturday afternoon.
Four wins and a draw from their last five games shows that they've added victories to what had been a trawl of stalemates, and it has also seen them climb up into the automatic places at what is always an important stage of the season.
Tyler Walker is the man in form, with 14 goals to his name already, and he's been backed up by CJ Hamilton and Danny Rose, who have seven and five strikes respectively.
Former-Blues boss Greg Abbott is now head of football operations at Field Mill, with Mansfield determined to have everything in place as they seek to make the step up to League One this time round.
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Manager’s thoughts ...
Speaking ahead of the game, assistant boss Tommy Wright said: "We know Dave [Flitcroft] really well and he's got his side on a fantastic run.
"They'e made themselves hard to beat first and foremost, and they've since added winning games to the mix having picked up quite a lot of draws previously.
"This will be a really tough test for the lads, but we're full of confidence as well. We've shown that we can dominate games, but we can also do the ugly stuff, as and when needed.
"I can assure you that the focus is on the pitch, whatever else is happening, and we'll be looking to continue our own good run.
"The lads have shown that they can grind results out, and that's important because we aren't always going to get everything our own way. We feel like we're going to score in every game, and the lads are enjoying the way we're playing.
"That comes down to knowing their jobs, and credit to them because they're working hard for each other."
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Did You Know?
+ After becoming Mansfield Town in 1910, the club originally played in red and white and later black and white before changing to their now recognised yellow.
+ The Stags became the first British team to go unbeaten in a 23-game season during the 1950/51 campaign, but finished second in the league.
+ The club has won only one cup in their history - the Football League Trophy in 1987. It came after a penalty shootout victory over Bristol City.
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Head to Head
The clubs have met a total of 77 times in all competitions with a fairly even split along the way. United have won 29 of the encounters with Mansfield edging it with 31 to their win tally.
|
Carlisle wins |
Draws |
Mansfield wins |
|
|
League |
27 |
16 |
29 |
|
Cup |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
FA Cup |
2 |
1 |
0 |
|
Total |
29 |
17 |
30 |
The trip to Field Mill was a disappointing one for the Blues earlier this season as a second half penalty from Tyler Walker proved enough to see the hosts through to a 1-0 victory.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
Last season saw these two teams slug out a 1-1 draw at Brunton Park, in September, with Hallam Hope bagging an early goal with just 15 minutes on the clock. The Stags rallied after the break and Calum Butcher got the goal that eventually led to a share of the points just before the hour mark.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
A poor first half for the Blues at Field Mill on New Year’s Day saw them trail by two goals at the break, courtesy of finishes from Kane Hemmings and Rhys Bennett, but Carlisle thought they’d given themselves hope when Jamie Devitt bit back from the penalty spot. Any signs of a resurgence were stamped out when Hemmings scored his second of the day with 15 minutes left on the clock.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
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Man in the middle:
The referee for this game is Mr Robert Lewis. Robert has taken charge of 19 games so far this season, showing 68 yellow cards and three reds.
The last time he was at Brunton Park was for our 1-0 defeat at the hands of Lincoln towards the end of last season. Matt Green scored what turned out to be the winner just before the break, and Tom Parkes and Jamie Devitt had their names taken in what was a feisty encounter.
A busy day for the referee was capped off in time added on when he showed Mike Jones a red card for a second rash challenge.
He was also the man in the middle for our trip to Grimsby earlier that season. Clint Hill scored the winner with 20 minutes left to play and there were no cards shown at all on the day.
Referee - Robert Lewis
Assistant Referee 1 - Barry Gordon
Assistant Referee 2 - Billy Khatib
Fourth Official - Sebastian Stockbridge
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Ticket information:
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