Carlisle United boss: We must not lose heart from Notts defeat
Mike Williamson insists Carlisle United must not “lose heart” from their defeat to Notts County.
The head coach said he was “proud” of his team’s performance and endeavour despite going down to a 1-0 defeat.
Alassana Jatta’s first-half header proved the difference at Meadow Lane as United remained five points from League Two safety.
Carlisle put the high-flying hosts under plenty of pressure and Joe Hugill came close to an equaliser when he hit the post after the break.
And Williamson took encouragement from how United tested Stuart Maynard’s side as the Cumbrians continue in their pursuit of points to beat the drop.
“The shift, the performance... I was very proud of it,” the head coach told the News & Star.
“I thought it was a real wholehearted performance with a lot of quality, but we’re just disappointed we didn't get the goal.”
Jatta punished United in the 19th minute and on Notts’ winner, Williamson said: “It was one moment – we spoke before the game about the fact they were going to put balls in the box from a certain area and obviously Jatta is on form.
“We'll watch it back, but sometimes when the ball's right and the timing's right, you're not stopping someone like him. But we've just got to look at what we can control.
“We did have times where we came off script a little bit, but I thought the boys overall moved the ball incredibly well. I thought we probed, we just didn't have the final touch.
“We put the ball into the box many, many times, which was good, and they defended it really well. They're a good team. They're up there and odds on that they're going to get promoted because they see through games like that.
“For us, we've just got to concentrate on ourselves, we've got to dust ourselves down.
“We can't lose heart. We have to build off that performance and the momentum and confidence that we take on.”
Kadeem Harris came off the bench in the second half (Image: Richard Parkes)
United had plenty of the ball in the closing stages but failed to create a clear-cut chance, despite Hugill earlier going close, while Jordan Jones was narrowly off target with a shot in added time.
On Carlisle’s series of crosses which failed to unlock Notts, Williamson added: “Of course once or twice the quality was lacking, but I thought they just defended it really well.
“We probably could have made a few extra passes to try and open it up a little bit more, drag them out and then put the ball in.
“But, yes, we were disappointed because we didn't create the clear-cut chances from the amount of possession and final third entries we had.
“We'll look back and make sure we improve.”
Williamson, meanwhile, explained his selection changes, which saw Elliot Embleton, Aaron Hayden and Sean Fusire come into the side in place of Kadeem Harris, Will Patching and the injured Paul Dummett.
The Blues boss said some players had been struggling with illness, while he also wanted to be careful not to over-play certain individuals who are still working their way pu to peak match fitness.
“I knew that the load tonight was going to be high,” he said. “Notts County are a very good team, they move the ball well and the pitch is an incredibly big pitch.
“But also, with T [Terell Thomas] and Patch, their minutes have been restricted. So we've got to be careful and the last thing we need is losing somebody through taking risks.
“And there has been illness with [Stephen] Wearnie, and decided to look after Kads [Harris] in that respect because we didn't want to put them at risk.”
Hayden came off shortly before half-time after a collision, with Williamson saying the defender is likely to have to go through the concussion protocols.
“He seemed a little bit quiet after it happened. We've just got to be careful with him,” said Williamson after the game.
“He seems fine now, the doctor's checked him out, but we'll have to check him out in the next 24, 48 hours.”
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