Carlisle United manager Paul Simpson has admitted that he should shoulder some responsibility to last night’s 2-0 defeat at Rochdale.
It was only the second defeat of Simpson’s reign and stemmed from a clow start in which they conceded an early penalty.
He said: “We talked before the game about the importance of starting right, and that’s even more important when you come to play a side that’s scrapping and trying to get wins.
“You can’t afford to give a team like this a lift, as we did with penalty, but maybe I have to take a look at myself as well. I possibly have to take a bit of the blame for this for not changing it or freshening it up.
“I just felt these players deserved to go again because they’ve put in a monumental effort for us through March. I felt as though they could go again, but I have to look at myself on that one.
“That’s nothing against any individual, we probably just needed a little bit of freshness to it. That’s something we’ll have to look at.
“We are disappointed that we lost but the players have been magnificent and we can’t forget that. It’s been a big effort from them.
“Even in the second half we at least had a go. We didn’t in the first half, we have to acknowledge that.
“Rochdale had something to cling onto and the second goal was a sucker punch because we were throwing bodies forward and trying to get something.
“Fair play to Rochdale, they battled away and they got the victory they’ve been scrapping for over the past few weeks. We’ve just got to dust ourselves down and go again now.”
Going again as far as Simpson and his team are concerned is a trip to Tranmere on Saturday.
