Boss Keith Curle is calling on Carlisle United’s fans to get behind the team for their potentially huge clash with play-off rivals Stevenage.

Just shy of 1,000 Blues supporters travelled to the Northern Gas and Power Stadium for United’s 1-1 derby draw with Hartlepool on Friday.

And Carlisle manager Curle is hoping the fans again get behind the side this afternoon (Brunton Park, 3pm) as they look to end their Easter double-header with a win to further cement their play-off place.

Jabo Ibehre broke the deadlock against the Monkey Hangers, only for Rhys Oates to cancel out his strike in the second half.

Despite failing to hold on for all three points, the Cumbrians remain two points clear of the chasing play-off pack – with only a further 12 points to play for this season.

They are also only two points behind Darren Sarll’s men in the place above them, who themselves have suffered back-to-back defeats ahead of their trip to Cumbria.

“We are still in the play-offs. We had fantastic support and we are expecting the same level of support today,” Curle said.

“But this time we want it to be more vocal, with more people and more backing.

“The players are showing they are giving everything they have got and that they do appreciate the backing that we get.”

John O’Sullivan was taken off early in the second half of the draw with relegation-threatened Pools with an injury but he trained alongside Nicky Adams yesterday.

Speaking after Friday's match, the Blues boss had said: “He is another one who is going to be absent for a period of time. But we have lots of good players coming back.”

Jason Kennedy, who came off the bench for his first Carlisle appearance since January in the Blues’ last home game against Notts County, was not involved in the squad at Hartlepool.

“Because he has been working that hard, we needed to take him off the gas because we have games coming thick and fast,” Curle explained on the absence of the midfielder, who is now joint top scorer with Ibehre with the pair both on 11 goals.

“He is ahead of schedule and he has had a little bit of a reaction to some of the work he has been doing, so we just had to ease him down a bit.

“That just shows that we have to put the reins on players because what we don’t want to do is lose them for a longer period of time.”

Macaulay Gillesphey, who has been out for around a month and has not featured since the 1-0 defeat at Cheltenham in February, returned to the substitute’s bench on Friday.

But Tom Miller is likely to miss out today through injury, while namesake Shaun Miller will serve the final game of his four-match ban.