United boss Greg Abbott (GA) spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's James Phillips (JP) following Carlisle's 2-1 pre-season friendly defeat away to Morecambe, Abbott saying that the Blues have been absolutely terrific throughout pre-season :
JP
Defeat this evening, plenty of experimentation though in your line-up, what did you make of tonight?
GA
Well, it is the last bit of work from pre-season and since the day they came back really early in July they have been absolutely terrific. All the work they have done on the training ground, all the pre-season games that they have played in have been superb. Tonight just not quite as good but you find out and we had to find out as much as we can about players in the short time we have got between early July and the first game.
This is another night where you probably find out quite a bit about certain players, and what we have done is given everybody pitch time, everybody opportunity time, and now it is the serious time of picking what I think is the best eleven to start the season against Accrington on Saturday.
JP
Do you feel then that in terms of like the main starting core of your team you had seen what you had wanted to do by Friday and you thought you would give a few other players............ But, there were some very much first team players in there too?
GA
No, don't read too much into the line-up tonight. The team has not been picked for Saturday before tonight, it has still not been picked as I am speaking here now, because what I have got to do is go and.............. There were quite a few players there tonight that could possibly play, quite easily, and probably will. There are some that maybe won't, but what I have got to do now is look at all the games, all the friendlies and put what I consider my best eleven together and try to get that first result against Accrington on Saturday.
JP
There is nobody in the Globe Arena left yet we have still got a PA announcement coming over us, but it works very well and they will be happy with that?
GA
Well, it is working yeah, it might not do much good to your interview thing but he is still talking, I think he is doing it deliberately now.
JP
I know, he is just carrying on, I think he is only just down there as well, the stewards are having a bit of a laugh about that as well. What about Ryan Donaldson? Another trial game for him tonight, had the whole game, will you think a bit longer on him or are you about there?
GA
I will talk to Ryan first, I have to do that, he is in the shower now and he will be getting off. But, I will talk to Ryan and then we will talk to you about that on Thursday.
JP
Last time you said you would talk to somebody because they were in the shower it was Alessio Bugno and he was signed up a few hours later, but we won't read that into this just yet.
GA
And I haven't got a habit of chasing players to talk to them in the shower either.
JP
Some youngsters in there as well, nice to see your youth team captain in there Tom Berwick and he didn't put a great deal by way of a foot wrong?
GA
No, I mean you are looking at the team we have got, and certainly the team that finished the game, David Symington, I thought David Symington did ever so well again for 30 minutes when he came on. Brad Potts was steady, very steady, he didn't get into the game as much as he has done or the impact that he has been having at right-back.
Tom Berwick alongside of Thir (Paul Thirlwell), I thought the two of them against a three man midfield did really, really well. He tired towards the end of the game but that will do him the world of good, as will Becky (Mark Beck), first-half he was doing alright holding the ball up, and second-half that is where he needs to learn the key is to keep the ball and keep us in possession and get us up the pitch and that brings other people into play.
But, you know, it is a real big learning curve and do you know what, we are really, really pleased with the progress they are making and I hope people work with us, all the fans out there work with us to let them develop and try to work their way into the first team. But, as soon as I think they are ready then they will be going in, but they are all on the right lines and we are absolutely delighted with them at the minute.
JP
I bet you are, have even you been a bit surprised because the Carlisle fans have been hoping for one of these to come through from the youth for quite a few years now, and the way these four are looking at the very early stages has that even surprised you?
GA
Erm, if it is surprising it is pleasantly surprising, I mean I have been a............. People are saying that we don't play young players, we have had one of the youngest teams in League One for a long, long time and the players we have had coming through haven't been good enough to play.
That is the reason they have not played, not because anybody doesn't want them to play, all the players we have released have all gone down and out of the game some of them. Nobody has gone on to do anything to make us think we have made any mistakes, and that is key in football, making decisions and not making too many mistakes. If the boys are good enough they will play, don't you worry about that, they will all play.
Whilst it is pleasantly surprising, we have had a real idea about this crop, I keep really with Eric (Kinder) in touch with what is happening with the youths, I know all about the youth team players we have got at the minute and he says it is time with the group he has got now. But, he was really keen on the four we took and we have known that they are going to be a good group right from midway through last season.
So, it is not too surprising but it is fantastic encouragement for the youth system and for the work that Eric and everybody else does at the club. When they come up to us, because we have worked with these boys quite a bit, they come with the first team quite a lot on the training ground and that is the way we have to do things. We are looking for the next Matt Jansen, the next Rory Delap, don't you worry about that, and if we can get one then fantastic news for the football club.
JP
Yeah, it really is, in amongst all of the youngsters looking to impress, and trialists, what a performance from the club captain?
GA
Paul? Yeah, that is what you get from Paul Thirlwell, he sometimes gets criticised and you sometimes strain as a manager and you think that every time he goes on the pitch you know what you are going to get. He puts in a honest performance, he mops up, he helps other people, his use of the ball is good, his game understanding is good. He hasn't got the pace of a lot of people, he hasn't got the pass on the eye or the goal in him that people always want, but he does a job that you would definitely miss when he is not around.
Tonight he was probably our best player I thought, he was absolutely terrific and he deserves credit because he knows now he has got a heck of a fight on to get a place in the starting line-up because of the performances of the midfield players and the people we have got in there already. So, he is a good captain, he is a good person and he shows a lot of people how things should be done at all times in any type of game.
JP
One belter of a free-kick from Matt Robson to equalise, one not so?
GA
One not so good. No, we thought he might be able to do it twice, I mean David Symington was fighting him for the ball because David has got an unbelievable strike on him as well. But, first one fantastic, he got us back in the game and I wish we could have stayed like that because I didn't want............ I have just told them, I didn't want to lose a game pre-season and I didn't want to lose this friendly, so that is two 2-1 on the bounce and they need to get back to winning ways probably Saturday, but that is the right time to do it.
JP
Yeah, that is the game to win, what will you do now in the final days before the season starts?
GA
I have got my selection problems now haven't I, we will be doing all the fine tuning, all the set-pieces for and against, we will be doing the shape that we are going to use on Saturday and we will be doing that on Thursday morning and afternoon and again Friday morning. Then I will just be coming down, one big breath on Friday and then it is nine months of madness, and it is off we go.
JP
And Accrington in particular, another League Two side, it couldn't have worked out better for you really could it, having the League Two side tonight ahead of playing a League Two side in the cup?
GA
Well, that is the way we try to do things, we always try to get a game that is going to be similar to our first starting game. It was hectic for the first-half, Morecambe got the ball forward quickly and got it forward directly, missed out the midfield to an extent. So, it was one of them that we had to fight and scrap to get a foothold in the game, certainly to try to get our passing game going.
I didn't think we really did that and that was down to Morecambe not allowing us to do that, so it is one of those games that I think Paul (Cook) plays slightly different at Accrington. I have watched them twice already this season and we will see how we go, but I think when we are on our top form and we are playing the way we know we can we are a good side against anybody.
JP
Just finally, I imagine with them causing you a bit of heartache or certainly your fans in knocking you out of a cup competition recently, the fans will be baying for you to get your revenge there?
GA
Well, we are just looking to get the season off to a winning start. Revenge is something that the fans probably use and you people probably, We don't, we just want to win the first game and we will give the respect that Accrington deserve, but we will be trying our damnedest to get the season off to a winning start.