Hallam Hope believes the prospect of Carlisle United forcing their way into the play-off race is by no means out of the question.

The forward is in upbeat mood after ending his eight-game wait for a goal against Colchester.

Hope will be aiming to help the Blues build on last weekend's 4-0 victory when they head to Crawley this Saturday.

The former Everton man believes a sackful of festive points can tee John Sheridan's 12th-placed side up for a new year charge.

United are four points outside the top seven ahead of a run of four games in 11 days.

"There are a lot of games left and stranger things have happened in this league," Hope said.

"We will try and go on a run and see where it takes us."

Hope believes United's display against Colchester proves they are capable of beating any side in League Two.

He added: "We didn't play badly against MK Dons [in the previous weekend's 2-0 defeat] and they are top of the league.

"We know can beat anyone in this league with the players and ability we have.

"Against Colchester I thought we dug in when they had spells, and we got the goals at crucial times.

"We were clinical. There was a good balance to the team, a lot of energy, and we were good going forward and defensively.

"We broke quickly, caused them a lot of problems and we had a strong base behind us so if we did lose the ball, we could retrieve it and go again."

Hope opened the scoring against the Us with a close-range finish to claim his first goal since the 3-1 win at Oldham in early October.

The 24-year-old said: "It was important for me to get a goal. I’ve been trying over the last few weeks so it was a big weight off my shoulders.

"I knew Nads [Ashley Nadesan] was going to aim for that type of area so I just gambled and got the touch.

"As a striker you have to gamble, I did that and luckily the ball came to me. You could tell by my celebration I enjoyed it."

United face one of their longest trips of the season this weekend to a ground where Hope scored the winner last season.

"Our away form has been better than our home form, and we're all looking forward to the game now - I can't wait already," he said.

"We know what we want to do and we're gonna stick to it.

"We want to win as many as we can, go on a run and see where it takes us - and it would be nice to get a few more goals over the Christmas period."

Hope, meanwhile, admitted he was stunned to be told that his dream debut for Barbados had been chalked from the records.

The forward scored twice in the Bajans' 2-2 draw with Guyana in September.

But CONCACAF’s disciplinary committee have since ruled that Hope and Mansfield defender Krystian Pearce - two former England youth internationals - were ineligible for the game.

They have ordered that the game must be forfeited and granted Guyana a 3-0 win.

Hope said: "It was a complete surprise to me.

"At the moment it's all a bit up in the air. I think an appeal from the Barbados side is going on at the moment.

"It was a big day [for me], but we'll just have to see what happens with that one."