Gavin Skelton’s return to the hot seat at Borough Park did not have the fairytale ending Workington Reds supporters were hoping for as they slipped up against Stalybridge Celtic.

In fact, Skelton described the game as the "good, the bad and the ugly" as Reds finished on the wrong end of a 2-1 scoreline at Borough Park and finished the game with just nine men, with Gari Rowntree and Dan Wordsworth sent off.

But the new manager was not entirely disappointed at his first game back in charge, saying the effort and attitude of the players bodes well as they try to escape the Northern Premier League relegation zone.

“It was a mixed bag, the good, the bad and the ugly,” said Carlisle's Skelton.

“There was some really good stuff and some really disappointing stuff, but the most pleasing thing was the attitude of the players.

“You couldn’t tell which team had nine men and Conor Tinnion going close at the end, he was unlucky not to score, their keeper made a great save.

“To be fair, their keeper made four or five excellent saves so credit to him. It comes down to ifs buts and maybes and the end result saw us beat 2-1.

“But I was really pleased with the attitude and effort from the players, although disappointed with two or three things.”

He added: “We had just got in front and had another chance, and we wanted to get that second goal and then poor defending let them in.

“We spoke about it at half-time and said about not making any more mistakes and then we gifted them a second goal and then pressed the self destruct button with two sendings off.

“We thought this could be three or four goals to one when we were down to nine men but you couldn’t tell. There were some really good, energetic performances and I think, in the end, we deserved a draw.”