Paul Simpson hopes Omari Patrick and Kristian Dennis get a great welcome from Carlisle United fans today – but says that’s where the pleasantries must end.
Patrick and Dennis are back at Brunton Park with Tranmere Rovers.
And while Simpson says he is full of respect for both players for the part they played when at Carlisle, he aims to make it a losing comeback for the duo.
“I’ve got huge respect for both of those players for what they did at this football club,” Simpson said.
“They were a major part of us getting promoted, and it was common knowledge I actually wanted to keep both of them.
“I respected Kristian Dennis because he wanted a guaranteed two-year contract. Omari, even though his record was really good, felt as though I didn't play him in the right position, so again I have to respect that.
“But I hope they both get a really good welcome from Carlisle fans, because they deserve that for what they did at the club.
“But I want it to be about us, it's got to be about our performance tomorrow, and we make it really difficult for Omari and for Denno.
“I'll gladly shake their hands if they want to shake my hand, and hope that we're getting the right result.”
Patrick, who had two spells at United, famously scored the equaliser at Wembley in 2023’s play-off final success, while in the same season Dennis became the first Blues player since Karl Hawley in 2005/06 to break the 20-goal-a-season barrier.
They are part of a Tranmere squad yet to lose or concede in League Two after two 0-0 draws and a 1-0 win.
“They're obviously strong defensively, they're keeping it really tight, they make blocks, they're doing things right defensively,” said Simpson.
“It's going to be a tough game for us, but what I want us to focus on, and the big thing we've got to do, is play football better than we did last week, where it wasn't good enough.
“The players know that, it's been made quite clear to them. The whole week we've worked on getting back to passing the ball to each other and working to try and keep the ball, so I'm hoping that's what we see from us this weekend.”
United’s display in the 3-0 defeat at MK Dons was in stark contrast to their combative victory over Barrow the previous weekend, and Simpson says the latter must be the benchmark.
“In any game of football you have to work hard, and that's in and out of possession,” he said.
“We worked really hard out of possession last week because we were reacting to things going on, rather than being proactive and getting into right areas.
“We were too slow to get ourselves up to the ball, and we were having to chase because we kept giving the ball away.
“We can make the game so much easier if we keep the ball better than we did, and that's the thing that we've talked about, that we've worked on this week, and now we have to see it on a Saturday afternoon.”
While Simpson hopes to benefit from strong support at Brunton Park today, he also concedes that Carlisle must set the tone with their performance.
“I think the first thing is that the supporters need to see that we're at it,” he said.
“I can't ask them to come in and start in a positive way, because everybody has their own feelings, but we have to make sure our performance gives them a lift.
“We have to make sure that we start the game properly, and we give them something to be positive about, and if we do that I'm quite sure it'll be a fantastic atmosphere.”
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