Last updated at 11:45, Thursday, 17 January 2013

Fit-again frontman Danny Cadamarteri says Carlisle United have no excuses as they finally bid to banish their inconsistency at Crawley.

Danny Cadamarteri

The veteran striker says the recent win against Coventry proves that the Blues can mix it with the best in League One.

Cadamarteri, back from a calf injury, believes last Sunday’s brilliant triumph against the Sky Blues has put Greg Abbott’s side in great heart. And he said the players must prove they can do it all again on this weekend’s trip to Sussex.

“The only people who can do the talking is ourselves as players,” said the former Everton man. “We’ve got to take all the positives out of beating one of the in-form teams in the league.

“Now we need to go on and beat the next team in front of us. There’s no reason at all why we can’t go down to Crawley and get another fantastic result.”

United have only managed to string two successive wins together once this season – their victories over Hartlepool and Bury in late December. Those wins, along with the Coventry triumph, mean Carlisle have won three of their last five games, easing some of their relegation worries.

Cadamarteri, meanwhile, says he is ready to challenge Abbott’s forwards to win his place back after a frustrating spell out of the side. The 33-year-old made an impressive start to his first season at Brunton Park but his role has been limited in recent weeks.

He said: “I’ve been sat there itching to get back involved. The likes of myself and the other lads who are coming back, like Mike [Edwards], Murph [Peter Murphy] and Rory Loy are in a position to put pressure on the lads who are on the pitch. We want to be out there. They are rightly deserving of their places at the moment but I’ll be pinching away at their heels. I want to get back in the team and stay there.”

Cadamarteri also believes that new defender Sean O’Hanlon has arrived in the nick of time to help out Abbott’s under-pressure rearguard.

O’Hanlon started with a clean sheet in the Coventry win and the striker said: “I’ve known Sean for a number of years and we have needed someone to come in of his type. Our back four have taken criticism a lot of the time but they have been under a lot of pressure from the likes of ourselves as strikers, and midfield, not holding the ball up. It’s been a frustrating time for conceding goals as a team, but Sean is a no-nonsense defender and he will help us.”

Crawley have had the covers on the pitch at the Broadfield Stadium.

First published at 11:29, Thursday, 17 January 2013
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk