Paul Simpson says persistence and practice can pay off as he bids to get more goals out of his Carlisle United side.

While the Blues have made a positive start to the season, with four points from six, they could have had many more than the two goals they have on the board.

Indeed, stats have shown that United’s expected goals (xG) from open play is the highest in the EFL.

Good chances have gone begging in the victory over Crawley Town and draw at Colchester United.

READ MORE: Carlisle United's Paul Simpson returns to former club Shrewsbury Town hoping for Carabao Cup run

And manager Simpson said that only by constant work on the training ground can turn more chances into goals.

“That’s all it is, repetition, keep working on it, doing it in training, and it will come,” he said.

“Well, I hope it will come. We’ve got players who are capable.

“Ryan [Edmondson] is capable of scoring, Jack Stretton is capable of scoring, Omari [Patrick] is, Mox [Owen Moxon] will get goals, Gibbo [Jordan Gibson] will get goals.

“We’ve got enough players who can get goals. We’ve just got to keep going and hope they come soon.”

United’s midfielders have laid on a number of good opportunities and Simpson admits that, while he is encouraged by much of what his side has done in the season’s early stages, there is room for improvement in front of goal.

“I was frustrated after the first game that we hadn’t scored more, so I am with [the Colchester game] as well,” he added.

“We have to just keep it going, make sure we create the chances and try to turn them into goals.

“Some of the deliveries from Jordan Gibson were outstanding, and we had good deliveries from set plays where we didn’t get first contact.”

United, whose two goals have been scored by Kristian Dennis so far, head to Shrewsbury Town tonight in the Carabao Cup first round.

It could give further opportunities to new signings Jayden Harris and Jack Stretton, who made their debuts as subs in the Colchester game.

That came just days after they joined the Cumbrians, with Simpson hoping the two can now bed further into things.

“It’s probably fair to say they haven’t settled in fully yet,” said Simpson after Saturday’s draw.

“Jayden’s only been in a couple of days, Jack’s only done one session with us.

“I think once they get to the pace of it all they’ll be really good additions to us, and we’ve got to work with them and hope they work with us to get as much out of them as we possibly can.”