Paul Simpson gives his reaction to Carlisle United's defeat at Stevenage

The Blues lost 2-1 at the Lamex Stadium after conceding twice in the first 45 minutes.

Kristian Dennis’s fifth goal in five games proved a consolation goal with manager Simpson saying Carlisle did not deal with a style of play they knew was coming from the hosts.

“The truth of it is they were better than us at it, better than us in the aerial challenges,” he said.

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“They have a game plan they work to and they’re very effective at it. We didn’t cope with it.

“We’re not the first team and won’t be the last that don’t cope with it because they are very effective. Danny Rose is a handful, Luke Norris is a real handful and the two midfielders are decent footballers.

“There’s lots of things we needed to be better at. I thought once we got a bit more of a grip on the game we were a bit better. It’s just really disappointing we’ve come away with nothing out of it.”

Kane Smith shot Steve Evans’ side in front midway through the first half before Max Clark doubled their lead.

Kristian Dennis is congratulated by Omari Patrick after his goal

Dennis then became Carlisle’s first player since Alan Ashman in 1953 to score in their first five games of a season – but it proved in vain.

“If you start a game the way we did, it’s hard to turn it around,” Simpson added.

“You can’t give any team a two-goal start, I don’t care what level you work at.

“The big disappointment for me is we knew exactly what we were going to face. It was going to be direct, up to two strikers, and we said you’ve got to compete for first balls and if you can’t win your first, you have to be on your toes to win the second contact.

“For 40-odd minutes we got absolutely nowhere near that.

“I think we showed real good character to get the goal just before half time – it was a really well worked goal. But we’ve huffed and puffed in the second half, and we didn’t have enough quality in the final third to make the most of any of the opportunities we had.

“The team we selected was to have legs and energy about us. Sadly we didn’t do it first half, which is not like us because I think we have competed really well [otherwise].”

Simpson gave Jayden Harris his first league start in midfield, while the second half brought debuts for defenders Paul Huntington and Duncan Idehen.

United’s boss says he is looking forward to having more options at his disposal next weekend with Owen Moxon and Morgan Feeney aiming to return from injury.

“I thought towards the end of the game with Hunts on and Duncan, we looked really calm and defended it well,” Simpson added.

“Maybe I have to look at myself and wonder whether I picked the right team. I couldn’t have picked Hunts at the start, I accept that, but maybe I need to look at myself and wonder whether I picked the right team for that game.

“We knew it was going to be a tin hat job and unfortunately we didn’t put our tin hats on early enough.”