Carlisle are back to league action at the weekend as the make the trip to Oldham to face the Latics.
Oldham were in action on Tuesday evening when they made the away trip to Stevenage, having ended a run of three games without a victory with a 1-1 away draw at troubled Macclesfield last Saturday.
The Latics edged the midweek encounter at the Lamex in terms of chances created, but bottom club Boro kept a tight ship and it ended as a 0-0 draw with the sides sharing the points.
December had been a much better month for Oldham, with two wins, a draw and just one defeat prior to the end-of-year visit of local rivals Salford City to Boundary Park, where the league new boys recorded a resounding 4-1 victory.
Looking for points and a climb up the table, Oldham will be seeking to extended their unbeaten two-game mini-run come 3pm on Saturday afternoon.
Danger men include Jonny Smith, who has five goals and four assists to his name, and Desire Segbe Azankpo who has weighed in with four. Mohammed Maouche and Christopher Missilou have three-a-piece.
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From Chris Beech ...
Speaking ahead of the game, Chris Beech said: "The challenge for us is to maintain the levels we saw on Wednesday night against Cardiff.
"The players will prepare properly and go out to do just that, but the beauty of the sport we work in is that it's so unpredictable.
"We work hard every day to try to make sure that we go into every game with momentum, and within that we have to make sure we react to setbacks and bumps in the road properly.
"To be fair, the lads have done that in the 10 games since I came here, but it's about getting a more consistent output in every game so that we give ourselves every chance of getting the results we want.
"Oldham will go into it looking for the points for their own reasons and we have to be ready for that. They have good players and they won't be happy with where they are, but neither are we.
"It'll be a tough game, away games always are, but we're going there looking to build on the confidence we've seen build within the group over the last few weeks."
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Did You Know?
+ Pine Villa was formed in 1895 but on 4 July 1899 they ceased to exist ... however, there were no tears, because the name was changed and the birth of Oldham Athletic came about.
+ Oldham were founder members of the Premier League back in the 1992/93 season, and stayed in the top flight for three seasons - one campaign in the old First Division, two in the Premier League.
+ Latics fell on hard times and were forced to go into administration in the summer of 2003, but some much-needed financial stability was provided when three American-based businessmen - Simon Blitz, Simon Corney and Danny Gazal - purchased the club the following November.
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Head to Head
| Carlisle wins | Draws | Oldham wins | |
| League | 30 | 18 | 25 |
| FA Cup | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Cup | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| League Cup | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 36 | 20 | 27 |
The last meeting between these teams was in September 2019 when a goal from Olufela Olomola with just three minutes on the clock proved to be enough to help the Blues to three points here at Brunton Park.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
Prior to that we saw them on Boxing Day in 2018 - and what a day it turned out to be! The Blues scored with almost every shot they had on target, but the afternoon became more notable for a post-match interview which saw then manager John Sheridan talk with a less than positive attitude about the players in his dressing room.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
The first game between these teams last season was in October 2018 at Boundary Park. United deservedly took the lead when Macaulay Gillesphey kept the ball alive at the back post. His header invited Hallam Hope to steam in and apply the finishing touch. Hope turned provider to set up Ashley Nadesan early in the second half, and a wonderful piece of skill from Jack Sowerby wrapped things up just two minutes later. Oldham bagged a consolation with 20 minutes left to play, but there was little else they could do to eat into United's lead.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
Prior to that, our visitors were up here at Brunton Park for an FA Cup first round fixture at the beginning of November 2017. Oldham lad Richie Bennett bagged a brace and, along with a good finish from Hallam Hope, that was enough to see the Blues through to the next round despite second half goals from Peter Clarke and Aaron Holloway.
Watch the GoPro highlights from that game here:
Rewind another year and we were the guests of the Latics for what turned into an unbelievable game in the Checkatrade Trophy group stages. Billy McKay opened the scoring for the hosts, and it all sparked up from there, to say the least.
Michael Raynes, Tom Miller, Reggie Lambe and Charlie Wyke scored for United (complemented by an own goal from Cameron Burgess) and Darius Osei (2) and Oliver Banks added to the net bulging to bring it to a 5-4 conclusion in favour of the Cumbrians.
There was even time for Macaulay Gillesphey to get sent off along the way.
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 20 games so far this season, showing 75 yellow cards and four reds.
He was last the man in the middle here at Brunton Park in January 2019 when we beat Mansfield 3-2. Hallam Hope [2] and Jack Sowerby bagged our goals, with Matt Preston and Tyler Walker notching for the Stags. Neal Bishop was dismissed as he walked down the tunnel at half time in what was a feisty encounter.
We saw him prior to that when he was at Brunton Park for our 1-0 defeat at the hands of Lincoln towards the end of the 2017/18 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 - Steven Rushton
Assistant Referee 2 - Geoffrey Liddle
Fourth Official - Lewis Smith
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