Mark Hughes says Carlisle United must be mindful of Hartlepool United’s threat as the Blues bid to keep their bandwagon rolling tonight.
Hughes’ side head to the north east in search of a fourth straight National League victory (Prestige Group Stadium, 7.45pm).
They will do so against a Pools side who have their own play-off aspirations.
Hughes hopes United can take advantage if Nicky Featherstone’s side come out and attack the Cumbrians this evening.
“I'm sure as an away team you expect that, but sometimes being the away side can help us because sometimes the home team will over-commit and you can benefit from that,” said Hughes.
“We'll see how it goes. They're a good team playing well at the moment, so we'll have to be careful.”
The Monkey Hangers fought back for a dramatic 4-3 win at Solihull Moors on Saturday to keep their play-off hopes alive.
That was a first win in five, with the Cumbrians hoping to complete a league double over Pools tonight after October’s 3-1 victory at Brunton Park.
Hughes has called on third-placed Carlisle to embark on a serious winning run if they are to hang onto the coat-tails of runaway top two Rochdale and York City.
“If anybody slips up, we've got to be ready,” he said. “If we do it right, we can go on a great run ourselves.
“We'll have to if we want to affect the top two, but certainly it's about making sure that we're nice and consolidated in those positions in the play-offs.
“From our point of view, we've just got to make sure that we win as many of the games that we've got left as we can.”
Hughes, ahead of two away games in the space of four days – Carlisle go to Eastleigh on Saturday – has not ruled out making changes in a bid to keep his side as fresh as possible for the double-header.
United will be backed by a sell-out 750+ travelling support on their first trip to Victoria Park since 2022, with strong backing for the Blues guaranteed.
“Absolutely, I'm sure we will [get that],” added Hughes.
“We're on a good run ourselves, so everybody's in a good frame of mind at the moment.”
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