Paul Simpson has urged Carlisle United not to get “screwed up” by their wait for a first win.
The Blues boss wants the accent to be on the best performance his side can put together when they go to Port Vale.
Simpson says if United focus on playing at their best, rather than being obsessed by the score, then better things will surely follow.
“I think this weekend we’ve got to try and switch it back to how we play and how our performance goes, as opposed to getting hung up on results,” Simpson said.
“I think everybody, which is natural, gets screwed up by results.
“But if we can concentrate on our performance, and get players playing to the best of their ability then it will give us the best chance of getting something at the end.”
Carlisle are hoping to end their wait for a first League One victory at the fifth attempt when they go to Vale Park.
The clash with their play-off winning predecessors comes after draws against Fleetwood Town and Wigan Athletic, and defeats to Oxford United and Exeter City.
Simpson has changed systems as the early weeks of the season have developed and has explained his thinking behind that.
“I thought we needed to change from a back three because I thought we weren’t getting enough players forward, we were being a little bit too safe,” said the manager, who will consider a place in the squad for new loan striker Terry Ablade.
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“Then we’ve gone to a four, and I think we’ve certainly created a little bit more – definitely in the Exeter game we did.
“It’s just finding the right balance against different teams. We’ve come up against teams who’ve wanted to play out from the back in Oxford, in Exeter, and Fleetwood. They’ve given us a little bit of a challenge because of the quality they’ve got.
“I don’t expect that to be the same from Port Vale this week; although they do look to play out, it’s more about [goalkeeper Connor] Ripley getting it forward, and picking up second balls and creating problems for us there.
“I think this will be a different sort of challenge for us this weekend. We’ve just got to make sure we pick the right system, the right XI, and then the right lads to come on and finish the game.”
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