Simpson: We have to get respect back
about what our identity is and what we’re good at,” he said.
“Northampton scored against the run of play and it was a hammer blow in terms of confidence.
“But we have to stick to the processes in those moments, believe in ourselves and continue to do what we’re good at.
“Other people can mention things (like the pitch) and say ‘was that a factor?’ Well, possibly, but what I’ve said to my group is that there are positives from that game and I’ve explained what they were.”
The Brewers have no new injury concerns from Saturday’s game but it looks as if tonight’s game still comes too early for recovering defenders Sam Hughes and Jasper Moon to be considered for a return.
FORMER Derby County hero Paul Simpson brings his Carlisle United side back to Burton tonight with relegation from League One staring them in the face.
But Simpson, who was born in Carlisle, finished his playing career with the club and is in his second spell as manager, is still well thought of at the club.
They were threatened with relegation from League Two when he took over in 2022 but he pulled them away from the drop zone and, last season, got them promoted through the play-offs.
The step up has proved tricky and the 2-1 defeat to Bristol Rovers on Saturday was their eighth in a row.
Simpson saw positive signs in the game – as did Burton manager Martin Paterson when he watched it back.
“We’ve just got to get something at the end of it,” said Simpson.
“There was some good play in the first half and the second half. But we didn’t keep the ball well enough when we got into the areas.
“There were things we’re happier with but certainly things that we’ve got to improve on.
“It’s the same story – we’re getting into the final third and then we’re letting ourselves down when we get there.
“We’ve got to find something from our players to give ourselves a chance of getting a result.
“We all know the predicament, we all know we’re in trouble, serious trouble.
“But we can’t change that, we can’t change what’s gone in the first round of games.
“We’ve just got to go and make sure we finish as well as we can, get some respect back, play for pride, play as hard as we possibly can – and see if we can get a little bit of luck that turns it into it into a result for ourselves.
“We know that we have to win games, we’ve got to try and find a way to win. At the moment, I’ll take a draw just to stop the rot.”
Carlisle were undone by a superb first goal scored by Rovers on Saturday when Jevani Brown flicked a ball over his head to wrongfoot former Burton defender Sam Lavelle and run on to set up former Derby County striker Chris Martin for an assured first-time finish.
It was the sort of unpredictability and innovation Paterson is calling for from his forwards and, for Simpson, a measure of the difference in quality which is afflicting his team.
“I don’t agree that Sam Lavelle should have done something different, which has been thrown at me – I don’t agree with that,” said Simpson.
“It’s a case of dealing with the quality at this level because I think it was a great bit of skill from Jevani Brown.
“You can’t legislate that, you can’t predict that’s going to happen.
“And then it’s a class finish from Chris Martin, who has been doing that all his career, so we’ve been done with some quality and we’ve not had that sort of quality when we’ve got into those areas.”