Paul Simpson says Carlisle United’s players must do all they can to turn jeers into cheers today.

The Blues take on relegation rivals Fleetwood Town three days after they were booed off in the home defeat to Cheltenham Town.

The Boxing Day trip to the Fylde Coast, which will see a sell-out 1,065-strong away support, represents another six-pointer in United’s battle for League One survival (Highbury Stadium, 3pm).

And United’s manager says only by raising their game significantly from Saturday’s slump can they give fans a day to remember.

“The supporters were magnificent on Saturday and we deserved to be booed off at the end – I had no complaints about that, the level of performance warranted it,” Simpson said.

“And we will get support. But it’s got to be us – we’ve got to do more, make sure that travelling support at Fleetwood are going to go home happy.

“We let the supporters down and let ourselves down against Cheltenham.

“We have to turn up. We have to play.”

Victory in United’s first ever league trip to Fleetwood could still take Carlisle out of the relegation zone, but that would depend on other results going their way.

Another bad afternoon, meanwhile, risks sending the second-bottom Blues to the foot of the table.

News and Star: Owen Moxon is a contender for a recall todayOwen Moxon is a contender for a recall today (Image: Barbara Abbott)

They are a point behind Lee Johnson’s Cod Army, who drew 1-1 at leaders Portsmouth on Saturday.

“I’m really surprised at Fleetwood, because I thought in the first game of the season [a 1-1 draw at Brunton Park] they were decent,” said Simpson.

“I’m disappointed with how poor we’ve been over this first part of the season, but I expected it to be a slog for us.

“Fleetwood are an established League One side, and we’re going to have to go and increase our level of performance, make sure we’re a damned sight better than we were [on Saturday], otherwise we’re going to be in for another disappointing afternoon.

“I think everybody will have gone home on Saturday, in terms of players and staff, knowing that wasn’t good enough and we need to improve.

“I find it hard to believe we can be as poor as that in our next game, but the challenge is to make sure we’re not.”

If Simpson opts to make changes again he could recall Owen Moxon to the starting line-up.

Others pushing for a call-up include Ryan Edmondson and Sean Maguire, who were among Saturday’s subs. But Paul Huntington remains a doubt.

United's boss, meanwhile, must decide whether to stick with Tomas Holy or throw teenager Gabe Breeze into the side after the senior No1's recent errors.