Steven Pressley says Carlisle United must “focus” on trying to keep Olufela Olomola for the season after his latest strike for the Blues.

The frontman was United’s matchwinner as he grabbed the only goal in the 1-0 win against Oldham.

It was his fifth goal since his season-long loan move from Scunthorpe which includes a January recall clause.

That leaves United at risk of a repeat of last term when they lost key loan strikers to their parent clubs mid-season.

Pressley said they must do all they can to avoid that scenario.

“When I came in here in January we lost the two main strikers [Ashley Nadesan and Jerry Yates] in that window and it was very difficult to replace them,” Carlisle’s manager said.

“For a lot of my next three or four months we played without a striker, and that’s a concern.

“It will be a main focus for us to retain him [Olomola] for as long as we possibly can.

“The problem is if he does well, Scunthorpe may insist he comes back. If they’re looking at his goals and his contribution I’m sure they’ll be thinking, ‘We’d like a bit of that’.

“But I think if you speak to the player he would like to stay here. He really enjoys it here, I have a really strong relationship with him and I’ve been delighted with his contribution thus far.

Olomola’s third-minute goal saw United claim their first home win since the opening day, taking them up to 16th in League Two.

The result made a mockery of Latics boss Dino Maamria’s pre-match claim that he “always” wins at Brunton Park.

Pressley admitted it was not a vintage display but praised United’s defending.

“I think the back three has helped give us stability there,” he said. “Since we’ve gone that way they’ve kept two clean sheets of late, which is really important.

“It’s not about systems at times, it’s how you perform within the system, I thought the back three performed really well, and I think Gethin [Jones] has done terrific since he’s come in.

“The opening 15-20 minutes we started with a real purpose and intent and we got the breakthrough with a terrific goal from Fela, but I then thought for next 25 minutes we showed a little bit of nervousness in our performance.

“We weren’t aggressive enough in our press. In fact I thought we were really laboured in our press. That’s disappointing because we worked really hard on that.

“But I thought it was probably our best defensive performance of the season where we gave up virtually no opportunities, and that was pleasing.

“The important thing was that we did much better in both boxes. Even in the last seconds there when you’re defending a corner kick and it’s really going to decide the outcome of the game, we showed a good steel about us.”

Pressley admitted he was relieved to secure a first home win in six attempts.

“I’m really pleased for the group because there’s a nervousness in the stadium - there always is when the supporters are so desperate for us to win, and that’s understandable,” he said.

“It was a really, really important three points for us because it moves us up [the table] and it keeps us in touch with the teams above us.”

Pressley said Harry McKirdy was subbed after taking a kick to his calf.