Carlisle United's Paul Simpson on Exeter City defeat

The Cumbrians’ 2-1 defeat at their fellow strugglers left them second bottom of League One and six points below the safety line.

Simpson criticised the way his side started the game – and their inability to prevent Exeter scoring two similar goals in the second half.

“I felt their crowd were just starting to turn before half-time, there was a little bit of grumbling going on, and [during the interval] I told the players Exeter were going to come in the first ten or 15 minutes [of the second half] and have a go,” said the manager.

“I said we were going to have to match them, and be brave, and go and be positive. Unfortunately we didn’t do that.

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“It really is simple things, though. If a midfielder runs off you you’ve got to track him, chase them back and be prepared to do it.

“If we’d done that we might have cleared our lines. The second goal, again they have a shot, it comes off the post and we’re not following in to clear our lines.

It’s really basic stuff, we’re not talking about rocket science – it’s real basic stuff that we haven’t done very well.”

Reece Cole and Sonny Cox gave Exeter a two-goal lead before sub Dan Butterworth’s impressive strike for his first United goal gave the Blues late hope.

It came in a game when new signings Harrison Neal and Luke Armstrong made their Carlisle debuts, Simpson complimenting both for their efforts.

The United manager, though, conceded that his side had not attacked with real gusto when the game was there to be won.

New signing Harrison Neal made his debut for United at Exeter (Image: Barbara Abbott)

“It is too late – you’ve got to go from the first whistle, you’ve got to be prepared to be brave and go and do the right things,” he added.

“And we just haven’t done that from the start of the game. We’ve actually got into some good areas even without playing to our best, that’s the frustrating thing. I think if we had played to our best we’d have been ok.”

Asked further why United did not start the game in the right way, Simpson said: “Unfortunately that’s a choice that players make.

“Everybody will have their opinions, it will be my fault, but for me, I think that’s a choice players make to go and want to concentrate on doing the finer things right – making sure your touch is right, making sure the quality that goes into the box is right.

“People won’t probably believe it but we work on it day-in, day-out on getting crosses in, getting across the near post, finding the right ball…

“We do passing drills nearly every day, and there are times when you [probably] look and think, ‘They obviously don’t do it’ but we do, because I’m a big believer that if you get the basics right and consistently do the basics right, you give yourself a great chance of getting results.

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“Unfortunately we haven’t done that here, barring the ending where we huffed and puffed and got into good areas but didn’t punish them.”

The defeat checked hopes that United could make further progress up the table after last Monday’s victory over Port Vale.

It means Carlisle have still not been able to put together back-to-back wins in the third tier in 2023/24.

“We can’t go from the level we had last week at home against Port Vale to dropping our standards,” added the manager.

“We’ve got to get a level of consistency. I’m not saying to be nine and ten out of ten every week but you have to be consistently sevens and eights, and finding a level of performance that earns results.

“It doesn't matter where you're playing, you have to start and you have to have a belief that you're going to win the game and I don't think we had that.

“I think we've turned up expecting it to happen and unfortunately you can't do that. You have to be right from the first whistle.

“This was a game that was there to be won and I think we've let Exeter off the hook a little bit.

“I feel a bit for Sam Lavelle and Gabe Breeze because they've put blocks in, Gabe has made some really good saves and double saves and we haven't followed in as well as we should have done.”

United were backed by 294 travelling fans on the long trip to Devon and the manager added: "It's incredible. To come and do this journey today is absolutely fantastic from the supporters and we had good numbers here today as well.

"They made their noise, they played their part, but again they've got another disappointing journey home where we haven't taken anything from the game."