Gavin Skelton says it is imperative that Carlisle United build on their first league win for more than a month.

The assistant manager admitted the 2-1 victory against Macclesfield had eased some of the pressure which had built recently.

But Skelton stressed it was only one positive result – and Carlisle cannot afford to slip back into their previous poor form.

He said: “We’re definitely not getting carried away – it’s one win and we need to start building on that.”

Sub Ryan Loft’s late winner completed United’s comeback after a first half that saw Theo Archibald fire Macclesfield ahead and Adam Collin save a penalty before Harry McKirdy’s fortunate equaliser.

It kept the Cumbrians five points above the League Two drop zone as they now start preparations for Friday’s televised FA Cup tie at Dulwich Hamlet.

Steven Pressley’s side have come from behind to gain results in their last two games, after losing their previous four league encounters.

His No2 Skelton added: “By hook or by crook, it doesn’t matter, as long as you get the result.

“The manager has a philosophy and the players have stuck to that [on Saturday] and last week. He’s pleased with that, and overall we’re pleased with the result.

“To go 1-0 down, everyone was a bit edgy, but for a young team to show the character they did to come back and win the game was fantastic.

“The lads showed great character. I know that’s a word that’s often used, but they did. We could have gone under, but we didn’t, and in the second half I thought we played well and deserved to win in the end.

“Results are everything, and that’s what we got.”

The game was watched by another sub-4,000 Saturday crowd at Brunton Park as attendances continue to suffer for the team’s poor recent form.

The Blues are 19th in the table and Skelton hopes the win is the start of a better spell for all concerned.

“If you’re not winning games, pressure comes, that’s natural,” he said.

“If you don’t win the next game, pressure comes again. That doesn’t change at any club.

“If you’re not winning, pressure mounts, and if you win it eases for a couple of games.”

Skelton also admitted Collin’s save from Joe Ironside’s penalty, shortly after the visitors had gone ahead through Archibald, was a key moment.

“It was a massive save,” he said. “You could feel everything flipped on that. At 2-0 it [would have been] a big upward task.

“The minute he did that, and we scored before half-time, it’s almost two swings and we said at half-time, ‘You have to take advantage of it’. Thankfully we had the courage to do so.”

Skelton said sub Loft’s winner – his first league goal at Brunton Park – was a reward for the Leicester loanee’s training-ground efforts.

He said: “He’s spent a lot of time doing extra training, finishing drills, and it was nice to see it bobble through the goalkeeper’s legs into the net at the Warwick Road End!”

The coach was also full of praise for 17-year-old defender Jarrad Branthwaite after the Cumbrian claimed his second man-of-the-match award in successive home games.

“He’s very composed, and gave an excellent performance alongside Jon Mellish,” he said. “They worked really well as a pair.

“He doesn’t panic. We went 1-0 down here, and in the Northampton game he could perhaps have done better for the first goal, but it doesn’t affect him, and that’s the biggest compliment I could pay him.

“He keeps his composure, doesn’t panic and going forward it’s great for the club.

“He will have to keep working hard in the afternoons [in training]. He has fantastic potential, he’s done fantastically well, but he’s still got a long way to go – if he drops off it his performance will drop off, so he has to keep his foot to the floor.”

Skelton said Stefan Scougall (hamstring) and Christie Elliott (ankle) are unlikely to return for the Dulwich trip.