Experience means Carlisle will be better prepared for April's Johnstone's Paint Trophy final against Brentford, according to manager Greg Abbott.

The Cumbrians endured a 4-1 hammering by Southampton in last season's final at Wembley.

"The excitement they all got caught up in took us off the path a little bit," Abbott told BBC Late Kick Off.

"So we'll treat it with massive respect, but we are going to learn from what we did last year."

Abbott added: "We're going to do things quite a bit differently, we'll be pretty private, it won't get a mention in our camp, we're going to concentrate on the league.

"The arrangements for the travelling, the way we trained, where we stayed and visiting the ground, we won't be doing all that.

They've got a situation where there are 20 players chasing 11 places, so you've always got that in the back of your mind as ammunition Carlisle boss Greg Abbott on the incentive of Wembley to his squad

"We're going to do it low key, at our location, in our time, we won't be building it up as much as everybody else."

Abbott's side have endured a mixed season thus far, the joy of reaching Wembley contrasting with the misery of a run of four straight defeats in all competitions.

However the United boss is confident that the carrot of playing at the National Stadium for a second time will act as an incentive to his players.

"They've got a situation where there are 20 players chasing 11 places, so you've always got that in the back of your mind as ammunition," he said.

"They won't step off the plate, they all want to play at Wembley. They're a dead easy group to work with, there's a good spirit, there's good application, we don't have a problem on the training field.

"We have different problems in terms of quality, age, and experience, but given determination, desire and focus they're really good."

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version