Carlisle’s victory at Wanderers in October was perhaps their best result since returning to League One – but manager Paul Simpson insists they must be more consistent as they battle against the drop.

The Cumbrians ran out 3-1 winners at the Toughsheet Community Stadium thanks to Jordan Gibson’s hat trick. Nathan Baxter had also denied Joe Garner from the penalty spot.

Simpson’s side currently find themselves 23rd in the table as they aim to build on last season’s promotion from the fourth tier.

“It probably is a reflection of where we are as a group that we have been able to raise it for those games but we have not raised it regularly enough,” said the Carlisle chief.

“That is not good enough. It is not acceptable as a professional footballer – you have to have a level of consistency.

“It is disappointing that at Barnsley and Portsmouth we had that level of performance but got nothing out of it. We had that level of performance at Bolton where we managed to get a victory.”

Carlisle were beaten 2-1 by Barnsley at Oakwell in their last outing despite taking an early lead through Luke Armstrong. The Cumbrians were due to face Cheltenham last weekend but that fixture was postponed due to the weather conditions.

Despite their bleak position in the table, Simpson believes there is enough in the squad to get themselves out of trouble.

He explained: “We have to accept we are scrambling a bit, we are probably finding the level a challenge.

“But I still think there is enough ability in this group – and I still hope to add other additions to make it stronger.”

Simpson added: “I am a big believer that this football club is in a really good place with a lot of positivity around it.

“One thing that is missing is the positivity of winning games of football. That is our job, to try and change that as quickly as we possibly can.”

Former Wanderers man Josh Emmanuel joined Carlisle in November on a deal until the end of the season.

However, the 26-yaer-old hasn’t featured since the 2-1 defeat at Exeter on January 6 after suffering a small tear to the tendons in his leg.

The points were shared when Wanderers last headed to Brunton Park in December 2020 following a thrilling 3-3 draw. George Thomason, Nathan Delfouneso and Peter Kioso were all on target for the Whites that day, Kioso also shown a red card in stoppage time.