Paul Simpson has highlighted how fans can help his Carlisle United team make Brunton Park a difficult place for League One visitors.

The Blues host Exeter City this weekend on the back of an impressive fightback to draw with a strong Wigan Athletic side.

Their second-half efforts in midweek suggested United are starting to find their feet at third tier level.

And the way fans backed his team – and also contributed in other respects – can be influential too, manager Simpson said.

“We have to make Carlisle United like that, Brunton Park like that, with the players doing what they do, the fans doing what they do,” he said.

“I think it’s fair to say the fans got their [Wigan’s] right-back booked in the first half.

“And we need that, because we’re getting that against us away from home, so we’ve got to have that.

“If we can all work together like we did, particularly in that second half, we can make it a tough place to come.”

Carlisle attracted an 8,649 crowd to Tuesday’s game and are hoping for another good turnout tomorrow against a Grecians side making the long journey from Devon.

The Blues are aiming for their first win of the campaign after starting with two draws and a defeat, plus a Carabao Cup loss.

Simpson, who has Fin Back available again after he was rested on Tuesday, felt Brunton Park was rocking on Tuesday and is hoping for more of the same.

The manager – who is continuing his attempt to bring in another new forward – added that it’s up to his players to meet their second-half standards regularly from now on.

On the backing from the stands, he said: “We need it again. They were brilliant on Tuesday. I can’t thank them enough for what they’ve done.

“It will have been a tough watch in the first half. I found it tough to watch and I’m there scrambling around trying to think how we can change it, affect the flow of the game to them and improve it for us.

“They stuck with us, they were brilliant. I really hope they can see the players were giving it their all.

“I think Carlisle United fans turn up and want to see players sweating blood for the shirt, and they did that [on Tuesday] in that second half in particular.

“In the first half they worked extremely hard out of possession, but not enough in possession. In the second half half they’ve given it everything.

“But we have to do that from the start. If we want these fans to stay with us we’ve got to do it consistently.”