At this stage, it’s all about results. I’ve been saying on the radio and in recent columns for a while that it doesn’t matter so much about the performance – it’s the win that counts.

Walsall were going well when they came to Brunton Park but it was still a game Carlisle had to earmark for victory. You have to win your home games sooner or later, the supporters certainly needed to see that and the club as a whole also did. Thankfully it came on Saturday.

It was great to have that winning feeling back and good to see some plus points in the game too. The debut of Lewis Alessandra was one, and another was that the defence seemed a bit tighter.

It was also positive that the team won without relying on their wide attackers. Harry McKirdy and Nathan Thomas have been the go-to men of late but McKirdy was not involved at all and other players than Thomas did the damage.

Confidence has to be taken from that and, as I suggested last week, a win also turns the draw at Oldham into a decent point. There were people disappointed at that outcome, but sometimes you have to be patient, and we can now say that four points from these two games is a good return.

Chris Beech said that there were plus points from the performance as well as things to work on. That’s clearly the case – but as a footballer, when you come off the pitch having won, it doesn’t always matter how you’ve played. That feeling is more important than anything.

You don’t dissect the performance too much after wins like Saturday’s. You have got three points, and that gives you confidence, which a team needs more than anything.

It came at a good time for Carlisle. Now we are approaching February, it is coming towards the run-in and you cannot afford to start slipping or be caught at this stage.

We saw Stevenage get a big win the previous weekend, and along with Morecambe they have made a number of signings. You start to look at teams like that and wonder if they are turning a corner.

A good weekend, though, has made the picture better again and, as well as increasing their gap above the bottom of the table, Carlisle have also pulled one or two teams back into the battle. There are sides they can catch and overtake now and that has to be the target.

Winning will also give confidence to the likes of Elliot Watt, who is settling into league football, and to Ryan Loft, who should be boosted by his start and his hand in the winning goal.

Aaron Hayden was another who came out of it positively. He is never going to be the sort of centre-half who plays out from the back, but what Beech has seen is an athletic defender who can do just that: defend.

I suspect that is what Beech has asked of Byron Webster as well. Do what you do best, be old-school if needed. If that means just getting the ball away with fewer risks, no problem.

We also saw a positive debut from Nick Anderton, and he has good size and stature about him. In the opposition box, Carlisle suddenly seemed like they had greater threat at set-pieces too, and although Anderton’s goal wasn’t a header, he still made his presence felt to pick up a good goal from a well-taken free-kick.

Often your full-backs aren’t a threat in those areas but this can be a new asset to United.

In his position defensively, Carlisle just need consistency. On the radio we didn’t mention him much, and that’s perfect. We didn’t have, because he just kept the ball, didn’t do anything over-the-top, and used his experience when Walsall threatened.

At the other end, Alessandra was very good. He can play in the number 10 position and once Joshua Kayode is fit, and adds his pace to the attack, that could be a good combination for United.

I’m encouraged by his signing. His first touch was good and afterwards he gave a great and honest interview. He said he wants more of the ball than he got on Saturday and that there should be a lot more to come from him.

Again, though – he worked very hard for the team first and foremost, and helped give Carlisle a platform to win the game. He comes with experience and people shouldn’t criticise the move just because he has come from a team below United in Morecambe.

It is not as if Morecambe have discarded him. They offered him a new deal, but he decided to let his contract run out and seek what he must regard as a better move. I feel that will turn out well for Carlisle between now and the end of the season.

Two away games now await – Forest Green tonight and Mansfield on Saturday. Although they are higher in the table, I actually feel more confident about the Forest Green game; they can overplay at times and when a side like that is short of confidence and wins, as they are at the moment, they are going to give the ball away and frustrate.

We have seen that over the years. It can be fantastic early in the season, on good pitches, when they are popping it around and winning matches, but when you are on a bad run of form, often you don’t want the ball at your feet so much.

We will see how brave they are tonight if Carlisle can put them under the right sort of pressure, and hopefully we will see another decent result to tack onto the last two.

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There was inevitably debate over Harry McKirdy when he missed Saturday’s game, with Chris Beech saying the forward had a bit of an injury that kept him out.

Some fans felt it was a sign he could be leaving but I’m led to believe there is indeed an injury there.

As Beech said, McKirdy has come in from under-23s football and despite making loan moves in the past, this is his first proper season of regular first-team football.

Over the last six or seven weeks, he has played 90 minutes time and again; Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday-Tuesday.

There are a lot of people, such as Harry Redknapp, who say you should be able to play as often as that without any problem.

At the same time, one of the oldest-school managers around – Neil Warnock – has said he understands why this can’t always be the case in the modern game.

Players now are so finely-tuned, with sports science and everything that goes with it, they are like proper athletes now.

It means the faintest of knocks or tweaks can affect your body more than in the past. Niggles can happen more easily.

We have to be aware of that. Players who are built to run and sprint are going to be at risk of this and need to be treated with care.

You can, of course, understand why some people are cynical about what they were told on Saturday, given the Jarrad Branthwaite situation, when injury and illness were mentioned at a time we all knew he was going to be leaving.

Even if those things were genuine, supporters had made their minds up and it is probably to be expected that some are trying to read between the lines when someone like McKirdy is missing from the squad.

As I say, though – I’m fairly confident the injury was genuine and hopefully we will see him back in a blue shirt very soon.