Davis hoping for result to follow on from Vale performance

Steve Davis knows that playing Carlisle United at their Brunton Park ground is always a tough place to go but he wants his players to show the same attitude and commitment they showed against local rivals Port Vale on Saturday. Crewe were narrowly beaten 2-1 and although it is always extremely disappointing to lose a local derby, the manager was certainly lifted by the display of his players.

Ahead of this evening’s clash, Steve told the club’s official web-site: “We don’t want Saturday to be a one off in terms of the performance. It was the attitude and performance we have been looking for and I thought we were a bit unfortunate not to get a point for our efforts.

“I don’t think anyone could fault the players for their attitude or effort, but we need that every week. It shouldn’t take a derby game to get us up and running. We need to produce that determination every week. If we can then we have a chance in every game we play in.

“Going to Carlisle is always a tough place to go. We always seem to play them on a Tuesday night as well, and I don’t know why that is. It is never easy there and we have to play like we did for the first 40 minutes against Port Vale and keep that going for a longer period.

“After what we saw from them on Saturday, we can go there with renewed confidence.”