It’s a week of home games for the Blues as they face Everton under-21s in the Papa John’s Trophy on Tuesday night and league leaders Forest Green Rovers on Saturday, with manager Chris Beech looking for a response from last weekend’s disappointing away day performance.
“I know I’m very determined to be successful,” he said. “I think you’ve seen that in everything I’ve done since I’ve been here, but Saturday a bad day for all concerned with Carlisle.
“I have to take responsibility and accept that. In terms of a response, you can only ever do that physically in your performance. We’ll be working hard to make sure we move forwards from this point because it was unacceptable.
“You have to respond as I always have done as a player, by getting back on the bike, as such, by representing my traits and strengths even stronger and harder.
“You know that you and your teammates need each other, and that’s team spirit. We’ll address that, we’ll talk about it, and we’ll move forward together.”
“What it always comes down to is that football is about winning,” he added. “I’m not daft, I’ve worked with and played for some well-established managers, and also alongside with coaching, and I’ve had bad days, but it’s not the day itself.
“It’s a part of the season and it’s now about responding correctly and building from that point. We have to do that because we’ve put ourselves in a position that you wouldn’t foresee in the first four or five fixtures.
“We’re there, so look at it, look at yourself within it, take responsibility, and then we move forward. The best thing we can all do is acknowledge that it wasn’t good enough, apologise and accept the criticism we deserve to face, and make sure we push on from it.”