Keith Curle hailed the versatility of his players after Carlisle United earned their latest valuable win on the road.

The 1-0 victory at Grimsby made it five games unbeaten away from home as the Blues climbed to 11th in League Two.

And Curle said the way his players adapted to his tactical changes before and after Clint Hill scored the winner was vital.

"Before the goal Grimsby were landing on too many balls in the midfield areas, so we changed that," he said.

"I also wanted one eye on putting pressure on them and getting quality balls in the box, as well as breaking through them.

"I then put Jamie Devitt up front for a period, wanting that extra player higher up, and then put Jamie on the left wing when Kelvin Etuhu ran out of steam.

"It showed the flexibility we've got. The players have an understanding of what we want and take on board the information we give them, not just during the game but through the week as well."

Curle, meanwhile, welcomed Hill's 70th-minute winner but admitted the goal's route - a cross from Gary Liddle finished by another centre-half - was not from the training ground.

"That's a session they must do in the afternoon when I've gone out scouting!" Curle said.

United's boss, meanwhile, said yesterday's win maintained his team's positive form following the previous weekend's 4-0 home win against Yeovil.

"It's elevated, because the important thing is we've got back-to-back wins, one home and one away, which is another tick in the box," said Curle, whose team go to high-flying Luton on Tuesday night.

"A different type of performance was needed - we had to earn the right to play and on chances in the first half it could have been 6-5 either way.

"The second half was different and I thought it was going to be one moment of clinical finishing that won the game.

"Grimsby are a difficult team to beat, they've had a lot of draws recently, and Russell [Slade] and his management team will be hurting.

"You can tell there was a bit of negativity around and our job was to stay in the game, get the crowd quiet, nullify their flair players and try and play our game by putting the ball in good areas."

United's youth team suffered a 6-1 home defeat to Preston yesterday, with Sam Adewusi getting the consolation goal for Darren Edmondson's under-18 side.