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" It can be a cruel game but that's why we all like it and why we come to watch it, and why we get enjoyment from it. When it's cruel in your favour then you get a day like today where everyone is down and disappointed. Even a point when you look at everything else would have been decent, but I can comfort myself a little bit by just letting you know that we are second in the table and two points clear of the team behind us. It's really a case of trying to win the next two games, which possibly even with a win today would still be the case that we were trying to do that.
" I think Southend played pretty well in the first-half, certainly the early goal on seven minutes gives them a lift. There is probably not a lot in that period because it had only just started, and it did knock us, it knocked us back a little bit and our reaction times were a little bit slower than I would have liked. There was maybe a wee bit of feeling sorry for ourselves, I don't know, I hope not, but it looked a wee bit like that.
" The second-half there was certainly a pick up on that though. We've got ourselves in the ascendancy with the equaliser and until David Raven's sending-off then we were looking to probably go on and try to win the game. The way we were playing, we could have done that anyway, but in terms of the way we were playing it was us being the likely winners rather than Southend.
" Obviously going to 4-4-2 gave Southend something to think about, we couldn't get enough of the ball in the first period, they passed it a little bit better than us. In the second-half we needed to give their two centre-backs more problems. Certainly the introduction of Gary (Madine), and Danny Graham playing closing together, which is what we wanted to achieve, gave them a lot of problems. When we did equalise Gary is the guy that got brought down for the free-kick that brought us the goal. The equaliser was the push that we needed and it was early enough for us to drive on. "
" The game had to change though, for our camp it did because we had a player sent off which is unfortunate. I haven't seen the sending-off on the video or anything, I've just seen it in the cold light of day as you have and the referee has. I can see some indication where he would give a foul and I'd like to have another look at it, but then the referee doesn't get another chance. It possibly is a foul, I think he has probably got a show of studs but I'm not condemning David (Raven) at all because I know that he is not that type of player.
" If he has just mistimed it then I can see where the referee made that decision, but at the same time I think that it was a bit harsh because there were a lot of heated moments in that period, and not just on our side. We're biased though aren't we, we're biased towards Carlisle whatever we say and whatever we decide on referees we've got to abide by their decisions. We'll have a look at this one but we've got to abide by it because they are always right. Losing David for the season is a blow because he has played very, very well.
" Of course the players are hurting, sometimes people don't give them that credit, they're going to think they hurt more than the team that is playing out there. It's a pretty subdued dressing-room as you can imagine but we've all agreed that we're back in on Monday morning and we'll regroup. If we can win the last two games then that will be right for us, so yes we're OK, but there is a positive touch to it as well in the throws of the disappointment, and I think that is very important for us.
" Some people say the glass is half full/the glass is half empty, the answer to that is that the glass isn't big enough. That's the real answer, that's a joke in terms of drinking wine, but we will be strong and we will be positive in going in next week regardless of what has happened before and what has gone on that way. Today the results have been relatively kind for us, and if that continues then we'll take it, but we know that it is still in our hands and that is the important factor. This group of people have returned from adversity before in a very strong manner and we'll do that away at Millwall next Saturday, absolutely no doubt about that.
" It looks early doors but it looks like he (Paul Reid) has damaged some ankle ligaments, how severely damaged I won't know until Monday. It's far too early for me to consider playing 4-4-2 next week, it's not as if I've never considered it before is it. So the answer is yes to considering it but I've got a week to look at my bumps and bruises and players' faces and we'll see where we go next Saturday. "