We spoke to Mike Williamson following our defeat to Crewe.
He began by giving his initial thoughts: “It was very crueI. I thought in the first-half, we were the better team. I think our energy and picking up second balls was great.
“Obviously, a really quick turnaround from Accrington, but our physical stats were good and I thought that played a lot into why we got our opportunities. In the first-half, we really did match that, I think, second-half, we went away a little bit.
“We lost a bit of control, but then we got our lead through a bit of quality. Obviously, Kads [Kadeem Harris] coming on the pitch, which gives us that quality. But I think the most disappointing thing was that we tried to hold on through hope more than real conviction.
“And in the end, if the game finished in 90 minutes, we obviously win the game, but 97, 98 minutes and we got overpowered.”
The Blues were ahead late on, but crumbled in stoppage time. We asked Mike if it was just about game management. He said: “Ultimately, we're against a really good team and they showed that.
“They never give in, their spirit, their endeavour and we tried to match it and I thought we did for the majority of the game. Obviously, we fell short in the end. Not marking in the box, I think just that mental fatigue took its toll and we got punished.
“They obviously have that confidence, which means they can keep going and have the belief that they'll score. Confidence and momentum is everything in football. They looked like a team that did believe and obviously when they got their equaliser, it was up to us to try and drag ourselves back into it and we couldn't do that.”
Jack Ellis got his first ever Carlisle goal, after a great delivery from Harrison Biggins; which was a common theme of the afternoon. Mike said: “Biggo’s [Harrison Biggins] deliveries were fantastic. I thought we did deservedly go ahead
“It was fantastic for Jack, really pleased with him getting that goal. And then disappointing, we give the ball away cheaply, slip at the back and then we get punished. But again, the quality that they possess, that happens and then the character to come out the second-half and get the goal, get ahead.
“I thought we had glimpses when we were up to try and play good football and try and calm it down but eventually the amount of balls into our box, we just couldn’t handle it.”
Kadeem Harris and Jordan Jones both started on the bench, we asked Mike about those decisions: “Four games in ten days, so they've got this turnaround again and I think we did have a lot of tired bodies out there but that's the nature of it, there's no excuses.
“But when they come on, we're drawing the game, it gives everyone a lift and we get the lead. That was positive and then we had a few other glimpses where we could have probably made more of it but they obviously now get to turn around and they'll be hopefully fresh for the next game.”
With Kadeem Harris’ contract running until the end of January, we asked if there was progress on talks with him, Mike answered: “We're in negotiations, we're talking.
“There’s multiple negotiations going on at the minute, like I say, we're coming into January.
“Similar with the others, Ben and Tyler, so there's a lot of plates spinning at the minute and we're hopeful.”
On Dom Sadi, who came off after going down late in the game, Mike said: “He did take a whack and we thought he was fatigued as well, so I'm hoping that he'll be fine.
"We'll just have to assess him and see how he is tomorrow.”
Then, on Callum Guy, Mike said: “He's going through it, he really is.
“He needs to get some more scans, obviously saw the doc. He's having glimpses of feeling better but then turns again. So, yeah, all of our thoughts are with him and his family and hopefully some good news soon.”
On transfer deals, and if there was any imminent signings, Mike said: “Yes, there is and there should be hopefully some announcement in the next couple of days. So, positive on that front and Rob's working hard with the owners and ourselves to get as much business as we can done.
“But we've got a quick turnaround and that's where our focus is.”
On the trip to Tranmere, another side around us in the table, Mike said: "It’s huge. Like I say, we've just got to look at this and we've still got to take confidence from this.
“We can't feel sorry for ourselves. We've just got to dust ourselves down and go again.”
Finally, on the fans, with nearly 1,000 travelling, Mike said: “The fans were excellent. They really were. The whole game they were singing, even when we had the setbacks and at the end of the game.
“I can't speak highly enough of them. They were really, really, really excellent and in really good voice and we're going to need them 100% at Tranmere.”
