John Sheridan said his senior Carlisle players need to take a leaf out of Liam McCarron’s book after the teenager was a rare bright spark against Morecambe.

The 17-year-old sub provided some late impetus for the Blues as they slid to a fourth straight home defeat without scoring.

And manager Sheridan admitted the youngster was a shining example to others who underperformed against Jim Bentley’s side in Saturday’s 2-0 defeat.

“We’ve just got to come on and be like Liam McCarron,” United’s manager said.

“I don’t really want to bring him up and talk about him but he comes on for 15-20 minutes, and the first time he gets the ball, he runs at someone, gets them on the back foot, and all of a sudden everyone goes, ‘What’s going on here?’

“It’s not hard, is it? I don’t expect a 17-year-old to come on and show experienced players what they should be doing.

“I don’t like having a go at my players but we need to do a lot better.”

United fell a place to 11th in League One after Morecambe’s first-half double.

Carlisle’s poor home form remains in contrast to their better efforts away and Sheridan admits the difference is hard to figure out.

He said: “I’m puzzled. I’m telling the players I’m watching mostly the same team as last week, and why don’t we put in the same performance as last week? Nobody can give me an answer.

“I’m the manager, I pick the team, and if people want to blame me, so be it - it’s part of life of being a manager. “But I am confused in the way we go about our game, especially at home.

“We haven’t scored, and we’ve lost, four on the spin. I never thought that would be the case. It’s not fair on the supporters - the ones who travel away get really positive results, then we come back home and the supporters are going home down.

“I don’t mind them grumbling. When you haven’t won four games at home and haven’t scored a goal, I think they’ve got a right to grumble. I’m probably in the same boat as them.”

Sheridan added that Carlisle had not been “vocal” enough on the pitch and left too many gaps between defence and midfield.

He also said he might reconsider his original plan to field a young side in tonight’s Cumberland Cup first round tie against Workington at Penrith’s Frenchfield Park (kick-off 7.30pm).

Sheridan, meanwhile, said he expects Jamie Devitt to train this week but Danny Grainger may not yet be ready to return.

United’s boss said he also hopes to secure a new goalkeeping coach this week.