Keith Millen faces arguably the toughest test of his short managerial reign at Carlisle United when he takes his side to Exeter City on Saturday.
City have the longest unbeaten run in English football when they stretched that sequence to 19 games last night with a 3-0 FA Cup replay win over Bradford City.
But Millen will have noted the Grecians had to go to extra-time to score three times and earn a trip to Cambridge United in round two.
Will that have taken a bit more out of City than they wanted? How fit will they be towards the end of Saturday’s game?
Well manager Matt Taylor did make changes from his side which had beaten Oldham 2-1 on Saturday in the league and he believes he has a fit squad. But he has a couple of injury concerns ahead of the Carlisle game.
Against Barrow, in the 0-0 draw, Millen thought his side looked fitter in the second half, which could be a key factor at St. James Park. But the biggest concern for Millen has been the lack of goals, none in two league games although they did score two in each of two cup ties.
He told United fans: “There have been steps, small steps, but I’m still concerned that we’re not scoring enough goals.
“You can do all the stuff we keep talking about, but you only win games by scoring goals, and that’s obviously a problem.
“But the way we’re going about things, I’m pleased with that. They’re listening, trying to implement what we’re doing, and it’s giving them confidence. And I think the fans are getting a sense of what we’re trying to do.
“The whole package at the moment has got a direction to where it’s going. But we have to win football matches, and I’m not stupid enough to say it’s really great. We’ve got to find a way of winning football matches, and that’s what we’re trying to do.
“If teams come against us and press us really high, you have to play past the press.
“You have to manage the game. I felt first half on Saturday we started really well, mixed our game up really well, but lost our way for a little while.
“In the second half, I thought we looked fitter, moved the ball, recognised where the spaces were. We got into those areas, it’s just the end product that was missing.
“But I do feel more confident. After Northampton I was like, wow, we’ve got some work to do here. Now I feel we’ve got a direction to what we are doing.
“We’ve just got to get better, get fitter, better, more sprints, but that all comes from what you do in training.
“The fact we’ve had three clean sheets, the players understand what’s wanted and needed. There are going to be mistakes, if there are, we show them, we don’t ignore it.
“If there’s something wrong we say listen, that’s not right. Let’s put it right. And they are listening, learning, they want to help and improve each other.
“That gives everyone confidence. I sense there’s a little bit more of a belief around the place that we’re going in the right direction.”
