After Saturday’s game, it was inevitable that Steven Pressley would be asked about some of the concerns supporters have about the lack of numbers at Carlisle United right now.

I felt the way he answered those questions was good. He was right to talk about the “scattergun” approach he did not want to adopt, something we may have seen in the past at certain times.

We have seen it before: getting to a certain stage without targets through the door, and then signing for signing’s sake.

If Pressley is keen to avoid that, it could be a good thing. It may also be positive that the loan players he is talking about have been involved in their clubs’ pre-season tours with the first-team squad.

It shows they have a bit about them, rather than those loaned out early who have no chance of that. It’s possible to look at it optimistically when you see a club waiting longer to get those players in.

Pressley said from an early stage that the four or five loan players who are signed will be in the attacking department. Defence was the earlier focus in the window and that area of the squad looks pretty solid at the moment.

Jack Iredale showed a bit of promise against Hibs, Christie Elliott has really impressed at right-back, you know what you’re going to get from Byron Webster and Nathaniel Knight-Percival – strength, experience – and I feel Jon Mellish could be a dark horse this campaign. He is able to go in at left-back and centre-half, and I think he will get stronger and stronger.

More midfielders are needed but in that, as well as attack, Pressley said he has identified what he wants and it is just a matter of patience.

He wants a team to play with high intensity and supporters are worried that, if he doesn’t get those main targets in the building early, he won’t get them fit enough. For me, though, your true fitness comes after the first five or six competitive games. The team will change from the first game to the fifth; even in League Two there is plenty of rotation these days.

We are told there is a decent budget there, so getting players in shouldn’t be a problem. The only thing I’d like to see is Carlisle going out and signing a couple of proven performers who could help their younger players along.

In midfield, for example; I know Jack Sowerby wasn’t vastly experienced when he came in, but he knew the position and knew how to handle himself at this level. He knew it wasn’t all about technical ability all the time, even though he had that – it’s about being tough.

I’d also like to see a proven centre-forward. Hopefully these things are being worked on.

Broadly, I feel if we get to the Ross County game without anyone else through the door, that’s when you worry. At the same time, you still have a window there and opportunities to get people in.

If you get to four or five league games and realise then you’re still not strong enough, then it risks being too late.

This is the week when things need to happen. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a lot of moves made and you will see a domino effect down the divisions. A lot of business should be getting done.

Carlisle have a core of experienced players. What will they be making of the current situation?

Someone like Mike Jones, for instance. He is back on board after fearing he was going to be gone in the summer – he forced his way back into the team and certainly earned that new contract.

He has seniority in the dressing room and will be a key figure. He, you would imagine, will be experienced enough to look at what’s happening and not get too worried.

Yes, he will see the squad isn’t nearly as strong as last season at the moment. But as a player you have to be a little bit selfish, make sure you focus on playing to the best of your own ability, and trust in those above you to fill those gaps.

I can remember numerous times when I’ve been sat there worried at times like this, but the players have always come in eventually.

Looking at the rest of League Two, you can predict where the challengers are going to be. Salford were always expected to come up and strengthen, while Northampton have signed well: bringing in Nicky Adams guarantees you 15 points on his own. Plymouth, of the sides coming down, should also be strong.

Leyton Orient will be another interesting club to watch. They are coming up after a fantastic season and I expect the club will have been brought very tightly together after the tragedy they suffered last month with the death of their manager, Justin Edinburgh.

They have promoted from within as they start the difficult time of moving on and I’m sure there will be a lot of goodwill behind them.

With Carlisle, we have heard that aiming for the play-offs is the realistic target again, and why shouldn’t we expect to see a good challenge in that direction?

Yes, we have seen some of the costs from the Keith Curle era cut, but let’s not see the pressure to deliver reduced.

I’m sure supporters won’t accept lower expectations and aims.

We all want success, Pressley sounds like he is determined to deliver it, so let’s see those signings come in and then we can judge what he and the club can do.

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Ideally you’d prefer your last friendly to be at home, just to finish the fine-tuning mentally and physically for the new season.

Instead, Carlisle will be rounding off their summer fixtures not at Brunton Park, but more than 250 miles away at Ross County this weekend.

We have been used to a trek on the opening day of the season, so I suppose this just brings it forward a week.

It should be, at least, a good test. I’ve been pleased with the standard of friendlies Carlisle have had this July and while you always like to see local clubs make some money from hosting them, I do feel they have had a better level of opposition generally this time.

If you play three or four of your local sides, as United have done in the past, you can get a few weeks into pre-season, have looked at 20 trialists and learned very little else from 4-0 and 5-0 victories.

Pressley, I’m sure, will have learned something from the Hibs game and certainly from Saturday’s defeat to Fleetwood. A battling game at Chester, too, will have taught him a few things about his players.

Nearly every League Two team seems to have gone abroad this summer, to places like Spain and Portugal. Sometimes it’s good to do that, especially when you have a lot of new players, so they can bond a bit.

Carlisle have done that closer to home, with a couple of days in the Lakes, and hopefully that will have had the desired effect.

The truth is that it doesn’t matter what you do or where you go in pre-season as long as you are ready for that first league game.

Pressley has talked a lot about the style of play he wants to see; what we saw against Crawley at home last season, and at Forest Green, with that high press, is the kind of football we can expect.

That particular style takes a lot of energy out of players, and that’s maybe why he has been looking at younger lads on loan in the market – lads who can sustain that.

It’s a shame in this respect that he hasn’t been able to get his full squad together through pre-season. You just hope Carlisle can be true to what their manager wants and we don’t see the blueprint ripped up early on when he has all the options at this disposal.

Pressley has enough experience of these leagues now to know that you need a Plan B, and hopefully we will see that when it’s required.