Keith Curle is ordering his Carlisle United players to shoot on sight in a bid to cure their goalscoring struggles today.

The Blues host high-flying Bristol Rovers (Brunton Park, 3pm) desperate to end a run of four draws that has held back their play-off push.

And manager Curle, who could include new signing Louis Pedro for the first time, says a more ruthless approach in front of goal is needed.

The Blues boss said: "We are working on all variations of finishing, from set-plays and open play.

"What you need is a sight of goal, and then you don't need to look - just bang it.

"Sometimes we have been looking for an extra touch to dress it up.

"Don't be surprised [now] if we start getting those deflections in our favour because, if you have those shots, you do get that little bit of luck."

Dutch winger Pedro could be included for the first time after the former Feyenoord player did not travel with the squad for Friday's 0-0 draw at Yeovil.

Curle could also be boosted by the return of Alex Gilliead, who was released from England Under-20 duty before yesterday's 2-1 defeat to Canada.

Gilliead scored in a behind-closed-doors 4-1 friendly win against the Canadians last Thursday but was not called upon at Doncaster yesterday.

If the Newcastle prospect does return, Curle must omit one of his six loan players, with only five allowed in a match day squad.

Today could see a home debut for Jack Stacey, while Brandon Comley is pushing for his first outing since returning from QPR.

On Pedro's potential involvement, Curle said: "He's available, he played 90 mins last Tuesday [against Burnley], he's got good dynamics, good ball mastery, and something different. He can open doors."

Today's third-placed opponents are flying after six straight wins, with 22-goal Matty Taylor having scored in five of those games.

The striker's brace accounted for Carlisle at the Memorial Stadium last November.

Curle, a former Pirates player, said: "They [Rovers] have had fantastic momentum from getting promoted last season.

"They have good confidence, consistency, dependability, reliability - everything we are trying to bring to [this] club, with good foundations.

"It’s a benchmark for us."

Tenth-placed United, six points outside the top seven with a game in hand, have only won three of their last 15 league games.

But Curle insists their play-off chances cannot yet be written off.

He said: "One win and you'd be surprised - everyone [would] start to think, can you? I still think we can."

* A GROUP of United fans from Germany are attending their first-ever game at Brunton Park today.

The Thunder Hill supporters' club, from Zellertal near Kaiserslautern, have been following the Blues for more than a year.