It was disappointing to see Carlisle United fall to a 2-0 FA Cup second-round loss at Lincoln on Saturday but, with the way things panned out, it sounds like it just wasn’t meant to be.

From the sounds of things, John Sheridan’s side had a fair share of the play without really threatening as they went down to goals from strikers Matt Rhead and John Akinde at Sincil Bank.

Now, it’s back to the bread and butter of League Two action for the Blues. They have to pick themselves up and get on with it.

To be honest, with Carlisle 11th in the table and only four points off the play-offs, that’s probably more than most Blues supporters expected at the start of the season.

Leaders MK Dons are tomorrow’s opponents and, on paper, the Cumbrians look to have a tough month of matches as they host Colchester next weekend. But the fixtures really seem to mean little this term with how inconsistent United have been.

Les O’Neill recently celebrated his 75th birthday and, at his party, I caught up with former Carlisle team-mate John Gorman.

As you do, we began to reminisce together and we went back a long time.

But John was exactly the same guy he was when he was here. Although he had a glittering career and coached the likes of Paul “Gazza” Gascoigne, he is just the same lad.

He only finished coaching quite recently but he seems a bit disillusioned with the way Premier League football is going. 

You go back to all the Premier League clubs being asked to pay £250,000 towards Premier League executive chairman Richard Scudamore’s departure bonus last month. I’m sure some of that money would have been greatly received in grassroots football if it had been offered!

Back on the Cumbrian football scene, it was nice to see Workington Reds claim back-to-back wins over Stalybridge Celtic and Hednesford Town. Hopefully, that’s the start of a run for them.

Blues boss Sheridan had some strong words for his players after their loss at the weekend. I can feel where he was coming from with his comments, as he asked for more leadership from his players, but I’m not sure with how he went about it.

The Imps scored inside 30 seconds at Sincil Bank last weekend, and that probably shouldn’t happen, but sometimes, you do just get caught cold.

But you can feel Sheridan’s passion. He is an emotional guy and his assistant, Tommy Wright, probably does some of the club’s post-match media duties because Sheridan can let his emotions get the better of him.

Danny Grainger, Jamie Devitt and Tom Parkes have returned to training this week. That will be a major tonic for United because, at the moment, Sheridan doesn’t really have any other options. 

That leaves the manager in a bit of a tricky situation with some of his younger players. He wants to play them but, at the same time, he cannot afford to destroy them mentally by playing them when they aren’t ready.

In other news, Devitt was nominated for the player of the month award for November, losing out to Bury’s Jay O’Shea.

Nevertheless, it’s good to see the Irish playmaker getting recognised because he has come back well from his recent injuries.