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Time to turn performances into points, admit Blues as Eastleigh await

Carlisle are seeking only a third win of the season at the Silverlake Stadium today (Image: Richard Parkes)

Carlisle are seeking only a third win of the season at the Silverlake Stadium today (Image: Richard Parkes)

Carlisle United No2 Louis Storey admits it is time for the Blues’ points haul to match their performances in order to get their promotion aim back on track.

The Blues head to Eastleigh today (Silverlake Stadium, 3pm) in search of only a third win of the National League campaign.

Carlisle’s stumbling start has left them 15th in the early standings after eight games, and while Rob Elliot’s assistant Storey believes they have been doing many of the right things, their numbers must also now stack up.

“I think everyone associated with the club and who works at the club and supports the club knows that the points tally hasn't been good enough and what we would expect,” he said.

“There is an element of changing mindset and philosophy, and how we want to approach and perform in games, and when we get those performances right it puts the odds more in our favour.

“It puts all the statistics in our favour which has been the case for probably 99 per cent of the games, however I think we all say that through gritted teeth because we all know that we need the points to start tallying up so that we can be at the top end of the table come the end of the season.

Leo Duru will be among the candidates for a recall today (Image: Ben Holmes)

“That’s what we need to get the success and the target which everyone in the football club wants – which is promotion, and that is still very much what we believe in.”

Elliot, who will be back in the dugout today after a touchline ban, is likely to give Micah Obiero another start in attack after the new signing opened his account in Tuesday’s 1-1 draw with Forest Green Rovers.

Candidates for a recall to the XI in Hampshire, meanwhile, include Leo Duru and Josh Williams.

United, winless in three, take on an Eastleigh side a point above them in 14th and without a win in four, although Matt Gray’s Spitfires are yet to lose at home.

Storey feels a positive outcome today can be a springboard for a better run of results for the Cumbrians.

Rob Elliot will be back in the dugout today after serving a one-game touchline ban (Image: Richard Parkes)

“Even though it hasn't quite gone our way so far the players are fully bought in, they're fully together, they're really confident and they're working even harder every day to earn whatever luck we need, and to earn whatever results we need, and we'll keep doing that,” he said.

“But we know that we need those results to start coming.

“I do genuinely believe, and the group genuinely believe, that once we get this next win, because of how we're performing we can really use that as a platform to go on a winning streak.”

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