Manager Steven Pressley admits he was pleased with the "tactical discipline" of Carlisle United frontmen Nathan Thomas and Harry McKirdy in the Blues' goalless draw with Forest Green Rovers.

While disappointed the hosts couldn't make their one-man advantage count in the latter stages at Brunton Park last night, after visiting midfielder James Morton was sent off for the away side by referee Michael Salisbury midway through the second period, Pressley accepted a draw was probably the right result.

He said: "I thought it was a really good tactical battle between two very good sides who both wanted to play football.

"I think, on reflection, probably 0-0 is the right result.

"I thought there were very few chances in the game as a whole and the only real disappointment was that, when they had 10 men for the last 18 minutes, we couldn’t capitalise on it.

"There were a lot of aspects I was really pleased with and, sometimes, there are things that are overlooked, as well.

"I’ve just told the lads in the dressing room that Thomas and McKirdy seem to receive praise for their attacking prowess, and their ability to score and create goals, but they were crucial to the way we played.

"Their tactical discipline was really important and a lot of their work will have gone unnoticed."

Remarkably for a team who are in fifth place in League Two, Mark Cooper's team have not scored more than one goal in any of their nine league fixtures this campaign, while the Cumbrians are now 17th, ahead of Saturday's trip to Bradford as they eye a third straight away victory.

Pressley, who also earned himself a booking after Morton's sending off, added: "What I’ve told them is that, if we’re going to develop and progress as a team, then they need to be doing that kind of work and I was really proud of them in that respect.

"It was a really good and organised performance and we did it against a very good side that has been in the making for three years. The other great thing for us is a clean sheet.

"I want us to play attacking, fast football but also our defenders need to gain confidence, and they’ll gain confidence from a performance like that.

"We’ve said before that we want to win here at Brunton Park and I thought that, especially in the first half, we created some really good moments, particularly on the counter-attack."