Paul Simpson has warned Carlisle United to expect to face a “wounded animal” in Barrow tomorrow after their Brunton Park thrashing.

The Blues head to south Cumbria hoping to complete a league double over Pete Wild’s side following January’s 5-1 home win.

Victory at Holker Street would give Carlisle’s promotion hopes a huge boost.

But Simpson says United’s opponents are likely to be smarting from the outcome when the sides last met.

“The truth is, since we did the review after that game, we’ve never spoken about it again,” United’s boss said.

“I would imagine they [Barrow] will be a wounded animal and will want to try and put something right from that fixture.

“But it shouldn’t affect this game and how we want to go about it. We’ve got so much to play for, and that’s the only thing I want to do.

“That game’s been put to bed, this is a different one, different stadium, I’d imagine it will be two different teams…it would be nice if we could get the same result, but so long as we’ve got the three points at the end I’ll take whatever comes.”

Fifth-placed Carlisle start the weekend four points outside the top three and three above eighth.

Ninth-placed Barrow, meanwhile, need to win to give their faint play-off hopes any chance of continuing into the last two games of the campaign.

The Bluebirds’ midweek defeat at Grimsby saw their top-seven chances realistically fade, but they are unbeaten in six on home soil.

News and Star: Pete Wild's Barrow side are ninthPete Wild's Barrow side are ninth (Image: Barbara Abbott)

And Simpson believes the hosts will relish the chance of tripping Carlisle up.

“I think this is the beauty of English football – everybody goes right to the wire. There’s nobody sticks the flip flops on in April and thinks that’s job done,” he said.

“I will guarantee that Barrow supporters, players and staff will want to try and spoil any Carlisle United enjoyment on Saturday afternoon.

“There’s definitely a threat [from Barrow]. They’re big and strong defensively, they’ve got forward players who can cause a real problem, they’ve got a midfield who are all comfortable on the ball, who can find passes.

"They’ve just got a bit of energy about them. Because it’s a local derby, because they’ll want to spoil it for Carlisle United, I think they’ll find some extra reserves of energy, and we’ve got to match that.

"They’re probably going to need a massive turnaround to get into the play-offs now, but they have had a good season. Up until the turn of the year they were up in those top places, and going really well.

“I don’t know what’s changed for them because the personnel look as if they’re fairly similar, [although] I know they lost Billy Waters to Wrexham.

“But I’ll be honest, it’s not my concern – my concern is us. We’ve got to be right, and we’ve got to earn the right to win the game.”

Simpson is calling on Carlisle to use the momentum generated by their second-half display in Tuesday’s 2-2 draw with Stockport County.

“It’s certainly galvanised the players, and I really hope it has done for the supporters,” United’s boss added.

“I think there were probably a small section who had stopped believing, I don’t know what they were believing in but they had stopped believing.

“But we’re still in a good position, still certainly in a better position than this stage last season. We’re making strides forward.

“I understand because, 12-13 games ago, we were sat second in the table and we’re now not, and people start to panic. It’s football, it’s just the way it goes, and we’ve just got to keep going.

“We believe we’ve got enough to get the results, but I’ve said this many times to the players.

“There’s no point just believing, and talking about it, we have to go and perform, and this is the next opportunity where we’ve got to go and perform.”

The best way to access our full coverage of the Blues is with a News & Star digital subscription, which gets you unlimited access to every article we publish on the Blues, as well as fewer adverts and a faster website.

We are running a special offer which gets you a six-month subscription for just £6. For details on how to subscribe, click HERE