Chris Beech says Carlisle United must continue to take inspiration from “Fergie Time” and keep going to the very end of games.

The Blues are preparing for the League Two visit of Cheltenham on Saturday after their dramatic FA Cup rescue act at Hayes & Yeading.

Head coach Beech says the way they salvaged the tie last Sunday, Jon Mellish scoring twice in the last three minutes of extra-time to force penalties, was the sign of a team that refuses to give up.

He cited the way Manchester United famously won many games in the closing stages under Sir Alex Ferguson as the best example of the trait.

Beech has even asked club analyst Jacob Blain to produce some statistics on the Old Trafford legend’s reign in this respect.

He said: “I’d love to know, if you stopped games over Sir Alex Ferguson’s career on 80 minutes, what Manchester United would or wouldn’t have achieved.

“It would be so much different [removing] the last 10 minutes of games when they’ve won Champions Leagues, league games, so much so they called that extended time ‘Fergie time’.

“Everybody gave everything – and this is world-class players – right to the end.

“Having the ability to go right to the end is a massive factor in any sport. You have to encourage that behaviour among your workforce.

“We got our just rewards for doing that on Sunday.”

Beech said the ability to keep going when not everything is falling in your favour is a vital characteristic of a successful side.

And he  said it is just as important to analyse positive results as it is to inspect defeats for ways to improve.

“A lot of coaches and managers do a lot of debriefs when getting beat, but you have to understand why you’re doing well as well,” he said.

“Then it removes luck, feeling, emotion…you have to understand what’s vital to make sure it happens when you’re not feeling quite right.

“I suppose that’s what happened in the FA Cup. The lads weren’t playing bad but weren’t excelling. At the same time we were having a lot of shots, hit the bar and post, had penalty decisions turned down.

“Even if they’re not falling in, it’s important that you have an ability to keep going.”

Beech has reported no new injury concerns ahead of Saturday’s fifth-v-sixth game, with Joe Riley being checked after he limped off during extra-time at Hayes.

The Blues will be without Dean Furman and Joshua Kayode to international duty, while Gime Toure will serve the final game of his three-match ban.