It has been another mixed week at Carlisle United with the success over Swindon followed by a disappointing defeat at home to Notts County.

On Saturday, when the Blues got their opening goal courtesy of Hallam Hope’s deflected strike, I said to the bloke next to me that it could be the turning point in our season. Things like that change matches.

A draw against the Robins probably would have been a fair result, but United managed to claim the points with Callum O’Hare netting the winner.

Then, in midweek against Neal Ardley’s Notts side, the conditions were terrible but the visitors certainly handled them better than the home team. I was praying Carlisle would get to half-time at 0-0, but a mistake by Gary Liddle allowed Kane Hemmings in to score.

In the second half, I expected the Cumbrians to put County under pressure but that never really materialised. In conditions like that, I don’t think you can play pretty football.

United striker Richie Bennett, on loan at league rivals Morecambe, scored twice for the Shrimps against MK Dons on Tuesday. In those conditions, I think the big striker would have been the ideal kind of player to have.

Each manager will have their own tactics and styles, but the “false nine” Carlisle are currently playing with doesn’t work for me. I have always preferred to have a target man that you can play off.

Unfortunately it looks like Mark Cullen will not be the focal point of the Blues’ frontline for the foreseeable future, having been ruled out for five to six weeks with a groin injury. In my opinion, even if he gets back from injury, I’m not sure there will be enough matches left for him to return to full fitness this term. It’s been a really tough season for the Blackpool loanee.

Despite the defeat to the Magpies, Hope did manage to score a strange goal, picking the pocket of away keeper Ryan Schofield, who had rolled the ball on to the floor, to stroke into an empty net.

In the past, I have seen the odd goal where a player has come from the side of the keeper to nick the ball off him, but I have never seen one where the player has come from behind the goalkeeper before.

At the moment, the whole Carlisle contingent are down, but you only need to look at the league table to realise we are only a point outside the top seven, leaving our promotion chances very much in our hands.

Both Hope and goalkeeper Adam Collin have agreed to stay at Brunton Park next term, and I’m pleased about that.

When you look back, Carlisle have had keepers like Allan Ross, David McKellar, Keiren Westwood, Tim Krul who is now at Norwich and Jordan Pickford who is now in the England squad. So, we have always had quite a good pool of keepers and I’m pleased with how Collin has played this season, so I’m delighted he will be staying put.

Nathan Thomas had a positive impact when he came off the bench against Notts and, really, I think he deserves a chance from the start now. 

Tomorrow, the Cumbrians visit play-off rivals Forest Green Rovers. They lost 3-0 at Morecambe on Saturday but then claimed a 3-0 victory at Colchester on Tuesday which, again, shows how unpredictable the league has been this season.