Keith Curle has praised his Carlisle United players for staying loyal to the cause despite facing some "harsh words" this season.

The Blues manager says some home truths have been delivered to his squad during some of their periods of inconsistent form.

But United are now in better shape, eyeing a fourth straight win this weekend which would further boost a play-off challenge.

Curle says the attitude of his squad in more difficult times is among the reasons they are improving now.

"When I first came to the club I mentioned it's important to get people on the bus. It's important people don't get off the bus when results don't go exactly how we wanted," he said.

"You find, within that changing room, people haven't got off the bus, because there's been some upsets and harsh words and some harsh reality spoken, but overall, the players have stayed on the bus.

"It's a case of creating momentum, keeping the belief, keeping the standards high, keeping the understanding of what we're trying to do and what we're trying to create, and the more people will get on board and will believe in what we're trying to do."

United, having beaten Chesterfield, Barnet and Yeovil, host Grimsby this weekend, hoping to cut the six-point gap to the top seven.

Chief executive Nigel Clibbens, meanwhile, has revealed that at least three players whose deals are up this summer could remain next season.

That is through targets in their contracts which are now being hit.

"I think there's one at least who's triggered one, and two [who are] very close," Clibbens said, not naming the players.

The director also played down concerns about the evolution of the United squad given that a large number of players are still not certain to be at the club next term.

Carlisle have five loanees in their squad while of the first-team ranks, the following see their current contracts expire this summer: Danny Grainger, Clint Hill, Mark Ellis, Tom Miller, Mike Jones, Luke Joyce, Gary Liddle, Nicky Adams, Reggie Lambe, Jamie Devitt, Jamal Campbell-Ryce, Samir Nabi, John O'Sullivan and Shaun Miller, plus four first-year pros.

"I'm a big believer in motivation, more than contracts," Clibbens said. "Each individual has to have a motivation as to why they want to succeed and be with you.

"Despite some maybe being on short contracts, each has a strong motivation to succeed here.

"There's no doubt about it, on the plus side, the shorter you have contracts from a club point of view, it gives you more flexibility to change things.

"We're coming to a natural period where a lot of the signings coming out of contract were done two years ago, the [likes of] Mike Jones, Jamie Devitt, Shaun Miller, Nicky Adams.

"Essentially, when we get to the summer, whether we're in League One, or have or haven't had a fantastic finish, there's a lot of decisions to be made across the whole of the football side, not just about the manager.

"Then it's how you go into the next longer cycle. It's not just a small thing, there's a lot more to it than this."