Gavin Skelton said Carlisle United’s players showed a “first class” attitude in their bid to impress at Rangers.
The reserve friendly saw the Blues draw 1-1 with the Glasgow giants’ B Team.
Taylor Charters’ penalty was cancelled out by Thompson Ishaka as the spoils were shared at Rangers’ training centre.
United named an XI full of senior pros after boss Paul Simpson said places in his struggling first-team were up for grabs.
“You look at the result on Saturday [the 4-0 defeat to Cambridge United], and the position we’re in, and we can’t hide behind it – we need the competition,” said assistant manager Skelton.
“Their attitude was first class. Some of them can always do more but I thought they did themselves no harm with how they went about things.
“I thought we played some really good stuff at times and our energy levels were excellent.”
After a goalless and largely even first half, Charters shot United ahead from the spot after Jayden Harris had been fouled.
Home sub Ishaka then broke through the Blues’ defence to score for Rangers, with United coming close to a winner amid some bright spells of second-half attacking.
Carlisle fielded a host of senior figures including Paul Huntington, Fin Back, Jack Robinson, Dylan McGeouch, Dan Butterworth, Gabe Breeze, Alfie McCalmont, Seán Grehan and Anton Dudik.
“We started well, and in the first half there wasn’t much in it but I still thought we played some good stuff, and in the second half I thought we were the more dominant force,” said Skelton, who was joined in the dugout by fellow coaches Billy Barr and Mark Birch, with Simpson watching from the stand.
“The players’ attitude to do both sides of the game was there – like, with ten minutes to go, them all sprinting back to not want to concede, that [desire] to not want to lose the game.
“So that's on them - that shows good character and good personality.”
One of United’s strongest periods of pressure led to the goal as Harris drove into the box where he was fouled.
“When we regained it, we retained it,” said Skelton. “So we had three or four waves of attack – it wasn’t a case of we attack, we defend and then not attack for five or ten minutes.
“We had three or four attacks in a couple of minutes, which builds pressure, which makes the defenders make poor decisions. And that leads to the penalty.
“The only criticism is we don’t keep a clean sheet which has been a difficult part of the season overall. That was disappointing because their goal came from the only real spell of pressure they had – we just didn’t see it off.
“That’s frustrating. There are reasons for it, but I want to concentrate on the positives.”
Asked if the performance had given manager Simpson something to think about ahead of Saturday’s trip to Bristol Rovers, Skelton added: “Games like this are a fantastic opportunity to put people in his eyesight.
“Anyone that's going to be available must put themselves in the manager’s thoughts.
“I would say this was the perfect time to play for these lads.
“Yes, it’s [about] minutes, and it’s a friendly, but especially in the predicament we’re in, we want a positive result from any game.
“The result’s important, the form’s important, so there are positives to come from it and there haven’t been many of those recently.”
On the decision to give most starters the full game – Jack Robinson, who was on a booking, was the only player subbed – Simpson’s No2 added: “They need minutes, they needed to go to 90 minutes.
“It showed they needed it because they were tiring towards the end. But on the flip side of that their application, attitude and that attitude not to get beat is what we need.”
It was another Blues outing for Ukrainian striker Dudik, who was up against Rangers’ experienced defenders Leon Balogun and Ben Davies in the first half.
The 19-year-old, who made his first-team debut on Saturday, came close to an opener and was also close to a late winner.
Skelton said: “I like his progression. He’s definitely willing, he's definitely got a football brain – at times, you can see that.
“I think our best chance came from him in the first half, and he got a couple of shots off shots off, which you want from a striker. So there were some pleasing signs.”
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