Chris Beech says Carlisle United must get out of the habit of always having to chase the game.

The Blues, who go to Cambridge tomorrow, have conceded the first goal in four of their last five games.

United have fought back to draw in a number of those encounters - against Mansfield, Swindon and Morecambe - but head coach Beech says it is time they got on the front foot.

He said: “The players deserve more for their efforts.

“But it comes back to what I said the other day about trying to win a 100m race if you start 20m behind it.

“You’ve got to run quick to get your gold medal. We did run quick against Morecambe last Saturday but not quite quick enough, because we gave ourselves that 20m disadvantage [by going 2-0 down], and didn’t get our noses in front to make sure we could win that game.

“It would be nice if we don’t do that, and grow into it, and get what we need from it.”

Fifth-bottom United have lost once in eight but are also seeking their first win in six.

Hosts Cambridge, in 11th, are unbeaten in five, a run that includes four wins, under caretaker boss Mark Bonner.

Beech, who is checking on the fitness of Nathan Thomas, said the home side have found a new unity under their stand-in boss and will be tough opponents this weekend.

He said: “They’re very good. I’ve watched a lot of their football, especially recently, and read a lot of their interviews and comments.

“They’re all in on what they’re trying to achieve. You can see that on their bench when they score a goal, you can see that [even] the players that aren’t playing are quite happy – they’re probably not happy to be not playing but are supportive of what’s going on.

“They’ve got an outside opportunity to have an unbelievable finish to the season. As a caretaker manager in his position he would be all over this moment for him.

“There’s no doubt about it, Cambridge are going to test and challenge us, and [at some stage] we’re going to make individual mistakes.

“But I want to see us get better at our unforced errors. Our response to setbacks has been good, our character has been good, our attitude to wanting to win is good.

“We need to make sure we get that last third entry, hit the target more often, work the opposition goalkeeper more.

“Our set plays are good now. There’s a lot of good things happening. The players deserve three points. We haven’t got what we deserved [recently], so we have to make sure we go and get them.”

Beech is hoping to have nine-goal Thomas available despite the attacker missing some training this week as he tries to recover from an ankle problem.

Harry McKirdy could be in the frame for a start if Thomas fails to prove his fitness, with Ryan Loft also hoping to be back in the reckoning.

Cambridge are hoping Liam O’Neil and Paul Lewis will be fit.