Paul Simpson on the excellent attitude shown by the players, and on local support
8 Hours ago
Andy Hall
@officialcufc
United’s fitness levels were tested once again on Saturday with the team pushed to the limits in the hot and dry conditions, and yet again they did what was needed to come away with a very good point.
“I’m pleased because the fitness levels have got us into a good position in these two games, and it’s earned us the right to take points,” United boss Paul Simpson told us. “Saturday was about battling against a very experienced side, and they’re a clever side as well.
“With Skuse, Judge and Sears, they’ve got a bit of nouse about them, so we had to make sure we ran them. We did that in the first half, not so much second half, and if that’s down to conditions, I don’t really know.
“We’ve seen good stuff and areas to work on, and that’s what you expect in these early games.”
And the strength of the bench is also something to be called upon, should it be needed.
“If your bench looks that strong it’s a sign of where you are,” he said. “We had some very good options and we need to be thinking about adding a couple more.
“We are still a little bit short, particularly in the defensive area, so we’ll continue to look at that. I’ve got to say that the directors have been fantastic in terms of telling me that if we need to go and do it, then let’s go and do it.
“We want to give ourselves a fighting chance. We knew that if we could come and get a result that it might put a few more people on the gate next Saturday, so we’ve got to keep trying to perform and getting fans into the stadium so we can keep this club moving forward.
“I said at the end of last season, and again in the summer, we’re not going to do it on our own. We’re not going to do it with just the board and what we’ve got in the building now.
“We need all the supporters and businesses to come and continue to back us. I want them to back us even more, give us even more to go at so that we’ve got every chance of being successful.”
The attitude shown by the players has fuelled the growing sense of optimism, and the boss admitted to being pleased with how the group has set about things since their return at the end of June.
“I’m absolutely delighted with them,” he commented. “On the flip side of it, we’ve got 44 league games to go so we’ve achieved absolutely nothing so far.
“We’ve given ourselves a nice little boost and we’ve shown we can run and compete. We’ve shown we can play and create chances, but we haven’t shown enough that we can finish them off.
“Defensively we’ve been good, and we’ve seen a real spirit and character in the group. Now we’ve got to go into the third league game, once we’ve dealt with the cup, and hope that they carry it on.
“And there’s a real sense of responsibility. Without saying too much we had two lads in training the other day having proper row to get best out of each other.
“I don’t want fights, but I’m fine if they dig each other out every now and then. It shows that they expect the best from each other.
“Again, on Friday, I could tell they were right. We were supposed to have a second small-sided game but Gav advised me to stop.
“He didn’t want it to tip over, he wanted them to go into what turned into a terrible journey on a high. We were stuck in traffic, but Carlisle is where it is.
“We’re going to have that at times, so don’t use it as an excuse. Grin and bear it and use it as a motivation, that you’re going to perform despite any of that.
“We have to remember that the new lads still have to settle into it as well. It’s tough for them. It’s a big step up to go from pre-season National League football to this for Jayden, and Jack hasn’t done a lot that’s like this through his pre-season.
“I think that over time they’ll benefit from the training that we’re doing and the games they’ll play. Things like this help them to get up to speed and ready to really have an impact.
“Once they get to the pace of it all they’ll be really good additions to us, and we’ve got to work with them and hope they work with us to get as much out of them as we possibly can.”
And on the possibility of more new faces, he said: “Nothing that I’m expecting to happen before Tuesday night, but we’ll continue to look.
“The directors are telling me that it’s ok to try and continue to recruit. We’ll do that. I’m certainly not going to be saving any money for a rainy day, because once we get to 1 September it doesn’t matter whether it’s raining or sunny, we can’t bring anybody else in.
“We’ve got to try and recruit a squad. That’s where Greg comes into it, he’s working tirelessly with all the rest of the staff to get more additions to come and give us a little bit of padding out to take us through to January.”