Paul Simpson says Carlisle United must not allow their midweek cup shocker to derail their league momentum when Leyton Orient visit this weekend.

The Blues have gone from the sublime to the ridiculous in terms of performance level in the space of four days.

Last weekend’s magnificent League One win at Bolton Wanderers was followed by an EFL Trophy defeat to Nottingham Forest Under-21s which Simpson described as “disgraceful”.

Returning to their better standards is the focus as the Blues now prepare to take on Richie Wellens’ Orient at Brunton Park.

“It’s a really good game for us, a great game,” said Simpson.

“They’re in decent form as well, they got a good win at the weekend, so it’s a brilliant game to look forward to.

“I don’t want [Tuesday] to be a spanner in the works, we have to continue with the momentum.

“I can’t forget about it, but we have to make sure we continue where we left off on Saturday, not [Tuesday].”

Simpson is likely to recall most of the first-team players he left out on Tuesday, as he gave fringe players an opportunity.

That should see the likes of Tomas Holy, Fin Back, Jack Armer, Jon Mellish, Sam Lavelle, Owen Moxon, Alfie McCalmont, Jordan Gibson, Sean Maguire and Joe Garner back in the side.

One of few positives on Tuesday was the return of Ben Barclay, who played 62 minutes in his first outing since August.

News and Star: Ben Barclay, left, played an hour on Tuesday as he returned from injuryBen Barclay, left, played an hour on Tuesday as he returned from injury (Image: Ben Holmes)

The defender is back from a calf injury.

“He’s another body we can call on now,” added Simpson.

“He was always going to come off after 60 minutes because it was his first game back.

“Out of everyone, I thought him and Corey [Whelan] tried to do it properly [on Tuesday]. I thought Luke Plange tried to do it properly

“But there’s a lot of things that need improving, it’s as simple as that. I’m not going to go into individual names but there’s a hell of a lot of things that need improving for us to actually achieve what we want to do this year.”

Orient, last season’s League Two champions, are 16th after three wins from their last five league games.

“The group of players who went and performed so well at Bolton have got to get themselves ready to go again this weekend in another really good League One fixture,” added Simpson.