John Ward Talks About Gaining A Point

Last updated : 07 November 2007 By Thetashkentterror

John Ward
United boss John Ward spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's Derek Lacey on Tuesday night as he talked about 0-0 draw at Luton's Kenilworth Road this evening, Ward also discussing the two cup ties Carlisle now have coming up in the next seven days :


" I think both sides will probably claim they had chances to win it and it was that sort of game, it wasn't a dull boring 0-0. We are still going ahead in the game on 87 and 88 minutes and so were Luton so there was a lot of positive play about the game. It's a shame in a way though that the supporters have gone home without seeing a goal. I'm happy with the result and certainly happy with the display of the boys after Saturday, we did OK tonight, I'm really pleased with them.

" We said before the game that this team has scored 15 goals at home, more than anybody else in the league apart from Leeds who have also got 15. They'd only lost one game out of seven prior to tonight at home so it was never going to be an easy fixture, particularly coming after Saturday. People are not really sure when you have beaten Leeds, there is a lot of emotional energy taken care of on Saturday as well as the physical effort from the team. So to have to travel down here a long, long way and get this performance from the team I'm really pleased.

" We are a quarter of the way through the season and we are just a couple of points away from two a game, so I'm really pleased with the way it has gone. It's always nice to be top of the league, we can put that to bed for a week or so now with the cup matches to come. It just shows how you difficult it is, you get in a strong position, if you can keep strong and keep in that way that we have gone about the job tonight then hopefully we can stay in that top part for a wee bit longer.

" We coped with this coming so quickly after Saturday, we've talked in there about Liverpool and Manchester United playing big games in Europe this week after big games at the weekend, then they have got another big game. If you want to be in big leagues and play big football matches then we've got to cope with being top of the league and cope with winning against Leeds. Then coming here when the chips are down and digging in and getting a result in our favour.

" We are going back with something which I'm really pleased about. You can't play well all the time and the days you don't play at our best are the days that you've got to get a result. To be fair we've probably only played very well for 45 minutes on Saturday but we've had to dig in here and four points from those two games is a real plus. "



" We were all up off the bench late on and we can see the ball come in and Danny (Graham) has gone for the shot rather than maybe putting it across. I've got no grumbles with the way the boys have gone about their work. If we'd won it it would have been fantastic but again I can't grumble about Luton having a share because they have had some opportunities and Keiren (Westwood) has pulled off some decent stops for us too. So it's been a good team effort right the way from my goalkeeper right to the front of the team to grab something here.

" Cup ties take the onus off a little bit where the pressure is to win the games and the cup ties. We want to be in the second round of the FA Cup and we want to be in the next round of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy. They are vital games for me, and for the club, and for the players so it would be nice to look at the league tables without worrying about other results. We can concentrate very, very strongly now on this FA Cup tie on Saturday against Grimsby at home and see if we can get the right result there. If we play in this manner and we maintain the attitude that I am seeing from this group of players then we give ourselves a good chance.

" Joe (Anyinsah) has had a bit of soreness on the knee, he's had it for a little while. We saw him on Monday and he wasn't quite right in training and he's got a wee bit of swelling on there. We've asked him to go back to Preston, the diagnosis there is pretty good, he is seeing the specialist on Thursday in Preston but by all accounts we are very hopeful he'll be fit for the Stockport game. He can't play in the FA Cup tie anyway on Saturday but we're very hopeful that the news is from Preston today that he is in good shape and should be OK for Stockport.

" At the stage I took Simon Hackney off Luton were coming at us a little bit down our left-hand side and Jeff (Smith) just provided that little bit extra. He's a little bit higher, he can win his headers, he's a bit stronger and he broke well from those positions. Simon has had some fantastic games for us and I'll need to just nudge it around a little bit. To be fair Jeff picked up a good half-hour of football there for me and drove on very strongly from midfield, Simon isn't injured though he's fine.

" If we can keep the squad fit, I've said that before, then we want to be challenging. We are a quarter of the way through the season now with a little bit of a breathing space in terms of cup matches but we very, very much want to do well in the league obviously. I am confident in this group and hopefully that spreads through, I want that to be the way in this football club. We've got an FA Youth Cup tie tomorrow at Brunton Park and I'll be up there and looking for those young players to be confident as well. If we can spread it right through this football club then we can remain very strong. "