Paul Simpson says Carlisle United have a great incentive to do the double over a high-flying side when Bolton Wanderers visit Brunton Park.
The clash in Cumbria pits second-bottom United against the third-placed Trotters.
The previous meeting in October saw arguably Carlisle’s best display of the season as they claimed a 3-1 win over Ian Evatt’s side thanks to Jordan Gibson's hat-trick.
The two teams are at opposite ends of the table but, as United look to kickstart a survival push, the chance to get the better of Bolton again could inspire Carlisle.
“We can take confidence from that [game in October],” said Simpson.
“And we can take confidence from our level of performance [in our last game] at Barnsley.
“We’ve had the usual apology from [refereeing body] PGMOL that it wasn’t a penalty [for Barnsley’s winner] and the referee misjudged the level of contact.
“Unfortunately that doesn’t change anything. But we have to improve on that too, because we had opportunities to put that game to bed, and if we get them and don’t take them against Bolton we’ll probably get caught out again.
“We have an opportunity to get a win double against someone at the top end of the table – that’s something we’ve got to look to do.”
Simpson made a personal check on Bolton in their latest game – Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Cheltenham Town at the Toughsheet Community Stadium.
While the Trotters have their injury issues at the moment, Carlisle’s manager says their general strength remains clear.
“I went to watch them on Tuesday and they had a really tough game against Cheltenham who were so unlucky not to get something out of the game, and Bolton probably scored against the run of play," he said.
“They’re a side who are a very, very settled group of players.
“They have a few issues, I believe this weekend, with a few injuries and I’m not sure if their player [Guinea-Bissau's Carlos Mendes Gomes] is back from AFCON yet and all those sorts of things.
“But you don't hold a place up at the top of the table if you've got a poor group of players. They're a really strong group of players.
“They're a strong football club and they have a magnificent stadium too.
“So we know it's going to be a challenge for us, a real tough test. But we’ve just got to concentrate on us.”
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