Altrincham boss Neil Gibson says he fully expects Carlisle United to be in the promotion shake-up this season.
The manager of the National League’s sixth-placed side is preparing to face Rob Elliot’s Blues this weekend.
While Altrincham have made a positive start to the season and sit in the play-off places, Carlisle are edging closer to the top seven.
And Gibson feels United’s current position of ninth is something they will exceed in due course.
“They’re a very good team that are probably going to end up finishing higher in the league than they are currently,” said Gibson in a club interview.
“That’s going to change at some point for them.
“But we approach every game, and especially at home here, where we’ll be trying to find solutions to win the game of football.”
Altrincham drew 0-0 with Kidderminster Harriers at the J.Davidson Stadium on Tuesday.
It was the first time they had dropped points on home soil since the opening game of the season.
After that defeat to Southend on 2026/27’s first weekend, they won successive home fixtures against FC Halifax Town, Eastleigh, Hartlepool United, Hornchurch and Aldershot Town.
Altrincham, though, are nursing some injury problems at present with top scorer Jimmy Knowles ruled out for four months with a foot injury and Barnsley loan forward Leo Farrell also injured.
Charlie Kirk is also a concern after coming off in the Kidderminster game.
Gibson can, though, call upon ex-Carlisle striker Kristian Dennis, the summer signing who recently returned from injury and scored his first Alty goal in their 2-1 win at Yeovil Town last weekend.
“We’ve got some players who might be able to play some more minutes this week,” added Gibson.
“We’ll have to be really creative with what we do with our game plan.
“But we’ve got enough good players still available where we can put something together to win a game of football against a good Carlisle team.”
Goalkeeper Harry Isted said: "We're at the top end of the table for a reason, Carlisle are a good team, so it's going to be a really good match this weekend."
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