Steven Pressley insisted it would take time for his Carlisle United team to turn the corner - despite pressure mounting after defeat at Plymouth.

The Blues are now only five points above the relegation place after a third straight League Two defeat.

Pressley cut short a tense post-match radio interview as he faced further questions about United’s struggles and his own position.

Some fans are continuing to call for his head with Carlisle swiftly back into action on Tuesday night against Keith Curle’s Northampton.

Pressley, though, remained adamant that the large turnover of players at United in the summer meant instant results were always going to be hard to come by.

He said: “We’re in the early stages of this team, and if you look at the progress of many teams with this type of transition to their squads, it takes time.

“Unless you have huge budget that you go out and buy the best players, it takes time.

“We continue to work hard, do the things, continue to improve.”

Pressley said he was still seeing “green shoots” of improvement even though Carlisle slipped to an eighth loss from 14 thanks to goals from Joel Grant and Antoni Sarcevic.

They hit the woodwork twice at Home Park but ultimately failed to get back into the game after Grant’s first-half opener.

The defeat came at the end of a week when director of football David Holdsworth confirmed that “any manager” struggling to get results would be under pressure.

Pressley indicated he would fight on and said: “Of course it’s frustrating but I have to keep focused and believing.

“I’ve seen Jurgen Klopp [saying] ‘the world’s a circus’ these days, but my job is to analyse the game, my job is to look at the game in a more balanced view.

“My [job] is not to be up and down continuously. My job is to ensure these players are ready for Tuesday again. That’s my responsibility.

“I have to keep working hard on them because I see some real green shoots.

“I was really pleased with many aspects, but again we lose the game and I understand that as a manager you are generally judged by results.

“But I’m a manager as well that’s improving the players and they’re moving forward. [As] we keep improving then I think the results will come.”

Pressley claimed Carlisle were the better side “from 18-yard box to 18-yard box” but admitted his side failed to defend a “bread and butter moment” for Plymouth’s opener.

He also accepted Carlisle had not been good enough with their final ball in attacking positions.

On Grant’s goal, he said: “We have a responsibility in these moments. That’s our job. As defenders, it’s the bread and butter of football and we have to do that. We have to get better at that.

“In the game they hadn’t really carved out too many opportunities and it was probably the only stage in the first half when they put us under any sort of pressure.

“We have to be more resilient in these types of moments.”

Pressley made three changes to his side in Devon with teenager Jarrad Branthwaite making his league debut and Jon Mellish and Stefan Scougall coming in.

Mo Sagaf’s omission was criticised by some fans. Pressley said: “I spoke to the players that I made changes for and explained my decision. It’s never the easiest job but it’s the job you have to do as manager.

“I felt we went with the right side, we talked and planned the tactical work and I thought they carried it out brilliantly – we were really aggressive in our pressing, good on the turnovers but the key moments in terms of final pass, final decision were the moments that let us down.

“A lot of our other play was very good. We hit the bar twice, and these sorts of moments when the luck goes with you, it goes with you. But we can’t feel sorry for ourselves, we have to keep going and going, and I believe if we do that it will turn.”