Manager Graham Westley is looking for his squad to continue their good form in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy at Brunton park on Tuesday night.
The Lilywhites’ chief takes his side north to face the Cumbrians and admits that making sure his side are fresh will be the key as they enter the field of play only 51 hours after their victory over Swindon at Deepdale.
“Recovery and freshness are going to be vital at Carlisle,” he told the official website. “There were only 48 hours between the end of the Swindon game and kick-off on Tuesday and we have to make sure that we do a lot to get ourselves physically right and using the squad is going to be important.”
The expectation from the terraces has risen with two wins and eight goals in a week, however, the manager is not getting carried away with things: “Kipling said ‘if you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two impostors just the same’ and I’m a great believer in that.
“I don’t get too down and when things aren’t going my way I tend to focus on what’s working and the work we need to do to become better and when we’re winning, by all means bed in the confidence, but let’s make sure we keep improving because a winning way is one of continuous improvement.
“Make sure we are better today than we were yesterday and make sure we’re better tomorrow than we were today.”
The arrival of Stuart Beavon on deadline day was a big fillip for the fans and players alike, but the 44-year-old admits that he and other new members of the team like goalkeeper Steve Simonsen will have to get used to the demands and expectations that will be put on them here at Preston North End.
“Every time you bring a new ingredient into a club, the whole thing has to adjust and Beavon coming in is another person who needs to settle down and find his way. The team need to understand him and the whole personality and character of the team will change and it is important you bed people into the squad and that the new squad emerges as a stronger outfit, which I’m sure it will.
“Everything is evolving. Every player is having to learn the Preston way. They are having to learn about the football club, learn about their manager, learn about their team mates and the organisation and standards that are required here and Simmo is no different from anybody.
“The goalkeeper is an important position, as the organiser of the back four, and understanding the requirement s of the back four; the way I like them to defend, the habits that I want, is a big part of what he needs to learn.”
The Johnstone’s Paint Trophy provides valuable financial and trophy winning opportunities for the Club and the boss is well aware that League and Cup successes can go hand in hand: “You can look back at my previous years as a manager and my teams have won a league championship and got to an FA Trophy Final and we reached the Play-Offs and we won the FA Trophy, so alongside out league campaign we managed to put together good Cup campaigns.
“I think a winning club, a winning squad and a winning team wants to keep winning football matches whatever competition you are playing in. You don’t want to concede any ground to anybody – the winning way is one that if you’ve got it in you, you want to put in place every time you take the field.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to manage [at Wembley] in two games now and players have played for me at Wembley and it is a great experience and once you’ve had a taste of it, you just want more of it. It’s a fabulous day, a fabulous occasion, a fabulous place and I’m sure our football club would love to go there.”