Getting the win against Port Vale was all-important after our recent run. Despite making hard work of it – both in not taking the several opportunities we had to put the result beyond doubt, and the nervy final 10 minutes after Rod McDonald’s red card – it should be viewed as a solid performance from which we can build on.
Things still aren’t quite clicking in attack, and we were lucky on Saturday that Port Vale were the first team in a while not to double-up on Jodi Jones, but there were some encouraging signs from that game that maybe we will find that fluency soon. The goal itself, despite being a moment of individual brilliance in the finish, came from a good period of possession for us. Furthermore, we created some good chances in the second-half which could easily have made the result more comfortable.
Just how important that result against Port Vale is depends on how much confidence that gives us going into a fairly tough run of games coming up over the next few weeks. In particular, this home game against Carlisle is a chance to further assert the home advantage that we’ll need to ensure that we’re in the promotion race at the end of the season.
The loss of Rod McDonald to suspension is a big blow, not only is he a more composed presence in defence than either Tom Davies or Dominic Hyam, but his ability to bring the ball out from the back is an under-rated part of his game. Given that the nature of many games this season will be opponents sitting off us, having defenders who are comfortable in possession is all-important. With the decidedly less-composed in possession Tom Davies likeliest to come into the side, we could find it tougher than we already do to build attacks from the back.
Elsewhere, Robins’ selection is likely to be influenced by just how bad the injuries that Marc McNulty and Tony Andreu sustained against Port Vale are. As mentioned earlier, Stuart Beavon coming in for McNulty might actually enhance the side as Beavon is more suited to hassling defenders and chasing balls down the channels that Robins asks of his lone striker. Andreu’s injury could open the door for Duckens Nazon to play through the middle, where he’s much more effective. Potentially, those two injuries could make us a better side, although it would leave us with little on the bench.
Last Time We Met
Our last meeting with Carlisle United came at Sixfields when we were in the midst of the post-Leon Clarke collapse that nearly saw us relegated from League One. Despite Franck Moussa giving us the lead against the Cumbrians, two second-half goals saw the away side take three points to enhance their own survival prospects – although they were eventually relegated from League One that season anyway.
How Are They Doing?
Current Carlisle United manager Keith Curle was appointed a few months into their first season back in League Two and oversaw gradual improvements that put Carlisle into the play-offs last year, where they were defeated in the semi-finals by Exeter City. Nonetheless, Carlisle’s form since around January when they sold star striker Charlie Wyke to Bradford has been abysmal at times and they have endured a mixed start to this season, winning two and drawing one of their opening six games.
In addition to losing Wyke in January, Carlisle lost a good keeper at this level in Mark Gillespie on a free transfer to Walsall and one of the division’s best strikers in Jabo Ibehre to Cambridge United over the summer. With a fairly underwhelming set of incoming transfers over the summer, there was an additional sense around the club heading into the campaign that this could be a really tough season.
However, that perhaps ignored some of the talent still on the books – particularly winger Nicky Adams, who is one of the best wide players at this level. Carlisle have a strong set of options in midfield for League Two, with the rapid winger Reggie Lambe, the box-to-box Jason Kennedy, the energetic Mike Jones, the ball-playing Luke Joyce, and playmaker Jamie Devitt.
Up front, Carlisle have a few useful options in ex-Sky Blues striker Shaun Miller, the pacey Hallam Hope and target man Richie Bennett. While, in particular, Miller and Hope have shown at times in their careers that they can be dangerous strikers at this level, they’ve lacked the consistency to be convincing options.
Defence has consistently been an issue for Carlisle under Keith Curle, with high-scoring games at both ends having been a feature of his tenure at the club. A back four of Tom Miller, Tom Parkes, Mark Ellis, and Danny Grainger should be reasonably solid at this level, but the manager seems to lack the organisational capability to make that as effective a unit as it should be. Furthermore, the loan signing of Brentford’s Jack Bonham has led to several glaring goalkeeping errors in the opening weeks of the season.
Prediction
While Carlisle haven’t started the season in particularly blistering form, the quality they have in midfield makes this no less of a difficult game for us. Nonetheless, this game should be viewed as an opportunity to build on Saturday’s win, but we’ll need to sustain more of an attacking threat for longer in the game to ensure that we’re not relying on another moment of Jodi Jones magic to nick the game.
Being slightly pessimistic, I’m going to have this down as a 0-0 draw.
*Due to work commitments this preview was written on 10/09/2017 and thus any up-to-date team news has not been included.
Sideways Sammy 