Paul Simpson has called on Carlisle United to “dig deep” and get a much-needed win against one of League One’s form sides tonight.
The Blues take on Burton Albion (Brunton Park, 7.45pm) seeking a morale-boosting result.
United lost agonisingly to Portsmouth on Saturday despite a good performance.
They are now seeking home comforts as they look to climb away from 20th in the table.
But they must do so against a Brewers side who have been in resurgent form with four straight wins which have taken them from the bottom end of the table to ninth.
“The next game comes around quickly and we have to lift ourselves,” said Simpson.
“There can’t be any disappointment [from Saturday]. We’ve got to come in bright-eyed, ready to go again, ready to go and put the same amount of effort in, really dig deep and try and earn ourselves three points.”
Burton’s impressive form was capped with a 4-1 thrashing of Bristol Rovers on Saturday.
Dino Maamria’s side failed to win any of their first seven games but have quickly turned their fortunes around.
Simpson, though, says it is crucial that United focus on themselves this evening.
“It’s about us,” he said. “We’ve got to get our level of performance right.
“We can’t keep fluctuating between what we had at Bolton, what we had against Nottingham Forest [U21s], what we had in the first half against Leyton Orient and what we had at Portsmouth.
“We have to be consistent, find a level of consistency and hopefully we can see that [tonight].”
Simpson admits it will not be easy against Maamria’s side, who will include ex-Carlisle keeper Max Crocombe and with another former Blue in striker Cole Stockton in their squad.
“We have to do it right. It’s going to be a tough game because they’re a good side,” said Simpson.
“They’re an established side, maybe a little bit of a yoyo side between the Championship and League One [recently].
“It’s going to be a tough game for us and it will be physical.”
Simpson said the accent must be on the result first and foremost, after a bright display yielded nothing at Pompey.
“If we can do it properly at home and get ourselves a result, it gets us going again,” the manager added.
“We’ve had two 1-0 league defeats which have been different types of defeats, but the same zero points out of it.
“We want to try and change that as quickly as we can.
“Wev’e got to start picking up points. Let’s get down to the basics. Good performances mean nothing if you don’t take points.”
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