James Tose has called on his Carlisle City players to treat this afternoon’s Macron Cup first round tie against Ashton Athletic as “a one-off game” as they look to end a run of six successive defeats.

After a very encouraging start to their debut season in Division One of the Hallmark Security League, the Sky Blues have suffered a major dip in form over the past few weeks.

That has seen Tose’s men drop back down into 17th place in the league on 11 points from as many games.

Today, they return to action at Gillford Park after back-to-back away games, with their first-round clash against Hallmark Security League Premier Division opposition.

The Ashes finished seventh in the Premier Division last term but have found life much tougher this time around.

They are currently in 16th position in their league on 11 points from nine league matches and are managed by Jay Foulds, who is assisted Ben Kay and Dougie Pitts.

“It’s a break from the league this weekend,” said Tose.

“It’s an opportunity to see it as a one-off game. We have a decent squad for today’s game.”

He added: “I know they are in the league above.

“They have not had a great start to the season and are in a very similar position to us in their league.

“They have everything to lose and we have nothing to lose.

“But I think they will get a bit of a shock in terms of how good we are in this league.”

Tose himself was one of just three Carlisle City substitutes, with only Tose’s management team available to make up a substitutes bench, last Saturday as his side fell to a 4-0 loss at Prestwich Heys.

Jonny Allan, Tose’s assistant who counts Carlisle United, Northwich Victoria and Harrogate Town among his former clubs from his playing days, and Carl Carr were the other substitutes.

“It was difficult last Saturday. It really knocked the lads,” Tose said.

“We had a great chance to equalise and make it 1-1, and really, that would have got us back into the game.

“It was the first time this season the lads have let their heads drop a little bit this season.

“I think, after that, we knew it was going to be difficult.”

But the Sky Blues’ boss expects to have a much stronger squad available this afternoon (kick-off at 3pm).

Tose added: “We have had a couple of players that have dipped in this season but it wasn’t really for them.

“Even though we have 25 or 26 signed on, realistically, we have about 18 players available.”

The City manager is also looking forward to returning to action at Gillford Park.

“We have played five times at home,” Tose said.

“We have won two, drawn one and lost the other two.

“At home, we have shown that we can be a threat.”

City have signed Mike Swift and Michael Slack, who has just returned from playing cricket in Australia, this week.

But Alan Casey and Michael Reed are both long-term absentees.