Abbott has led Carlisle to Wembley in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy

Carlisle United boss Greg Abbott believes his side failed to match their recent form levels in Tuesday's 2-1 home defeat by Huddersfield Town.

Abbott's side went into the game on the back of Saturday's 5-0 win against MK Dons and the United manager was frustrated with his side's display.

"We had some terrific performances on Saturday but tonight we didn't find them," he told BBC Radio Cumbria.

"We didn't make life uncomfortable for them tonight."

Despite the loss, supporters who contacted BBC Radio Cumbria were sympathetic towards the Cumbrians, giving credit to the quality of the opposition rather than criticising the efforts of their own side.

And Abbott is pleased to find supporters are showing solidarity with his players, but admitted the fans would have had cause to be aggrieved with the level of performance in comparison to recent matches.

"I think the fans are buying into things but we are better than what we've shown tonight and we're closer to Huddersfield in terms of ability, and they looked better on the night by a way and that's disappointing," he said.

"You look at MK Dons and there's not a lot between them and Huddersfield and we made them look really ordinary, but tonight we were second best.

"We nearly scraped something out of it but not nearly enough tonight to be honest."

Carlisle are 12th in League One following the loss, seven points off the relegation zone and 15 points away from the play-off places.

Meanwhile, Canadian international defender Adrian Cann has been released following a trial period with the club.

Cann, 29, has recently been playing in Denmark and boss Abbott said he would "follow" the player's progress.

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