O'Hanlon: Confidence is low

Sean O'Hanlon admits there is a lack of confidence in the Carlisle dressing room but believes there is plenty of time to turn it around.

The Cumbrians were hammered 5-1 at home to Leyton Orient on the opening day and, despite seeing off Blackburn in the Capital One Cup, have followed that up with back-to-back 4-0 defeats to Bradford and crisis club Coventry respectively. Saturday's heavy loss to the Sky Blues led to a section of Carlisle's supporters calling for the head of manager Greg Abbott, whose side have already been installed as the bookmakers' favourites for relegation from League One. O'Hanlon knows it is far too early for that kind of talk but admits there is a desperate need for an injection of confidence at Brunton Park. "I think it's a confidence issue right through the team," he told the club's official website. "We don't seem to keep the ball for any length of time and it feels like we're defending on the back foot. "We need to set ourselves some targets. Things like making sure we get to half-time with a clean sheet so that we give ourselves a chance. "We need targets right through the team - in defence, attack and midfield. It's important that we all keep going because it's only the third game and there's still a long, long way to go. "There are good players in the dressing room and we just need to raise the confidence. That comes with getting a result. If you look at the team then individually we are just as good as any side. If we can get the first goal in a game it makes a huge difference, and if we can then get to half-time with a clean sheet it will be massive. It's all about hitting those little targets we have to set ourselves."