United kick off the busy festive period with a home game against Bolton Wanderers with 2,000 United fans once again in attendance.
Speaking ahead of the game, boss Chris Beech said: “They’re a big club, aren’t they, and they’ll be hurting about being at this level.
“They’ll be hurting after the Tranmere result and I have no doubt they’ll be looking to bounce back. We know all about the quality they have in their squad and how potent that can be if they click.
“Our job is to concentrate on us and on what we do and, if we play the way we’ve seen, we’ll be causing them problems as we keep them as quiet as we possibly can.”
“It’s a massive game, and I would imagine one or two Bolton fans are trying to get in the stadium,” he added. “Well done to Nigel [Clibbens] and the staff for trying to beat the coronavirus and supporter type lockdown to make sure it’s just the home fans who will be there.
“We’ve got a great opportunity to play at home on Boxing Day and we’re looking forward to it. Normally the Boxing Day fixture is the halfway point, of course we’re a bit before that, we’re not quite where you normally would be for that sort of synopsis, but were heading towards halfway in terms of games played.
“We have four more to get there, we’ll see where we are when we’ve had 23 games played and then we’ll have to see what we might have to do in terms of supporting the lads in January.
“We’ve just come off a good run of results and we’ll try to get another one going. There are no guarantees of anything, we have to consider where it comes from and stick to those traits.
“The players are hurting that their run ended on Saturday, but they have to be mindful of how well they’ve done both in defeat and in winning. You have to make sure you stay level headed with what you’re doing, and you have to understand the reasons why you’ve done well, or not as well as you’d like.
“Accept that, whatever it is, be honest with yourself and then move on from that point.”
As for Christmas Day, he commented: “The lads will get some rest, I want them to spend it with their families.
“I’m quite comfortable with them doing that because life is all about your family in my personal opinion. I want them to make sure they enjoy that day, obviously behave correctly, and I want all of our Carlisle fans to enjoy their day as well.
“I hope everyone has a good Christmas then we can all get back together again for that important game against Bolton.
“To our fans, Merry Christmas to everybody. It will be great to see 2,000 of you on Boxing Day. Family in my life is key to everything I do, so just enjoy your time with all your families.”