'Deserved a point' - Paul Simpson reacts as Carlisle United draw away to Stevenage

Carlisle United manager Paul Simpson says his side deserved a point on the road at Stevenage.

The Blues drew 2-2 with Steve Evans' team with goals from Sean Maguire and Joe Garner.

The Cumbrians fell behind twice in the match with Garner's equaliser coming in the 90th minute.

Speaking to the Carlisle United website after the match manager Paul Simpson said: "Do you know what, we deserved at least a point out of today.

“This has been incredible heat, and I’m not complaining about it because I said to the players, let’s use it as a positive because we’ll soon be complaining about it being cold and wet and snow and sleet and everything else.

“I think the way the players went about it for the majority of the game was outstanding. But they were really poor goals to give away, I’m really disappointed with both of them, but we showed tremendous character with grit and determination.

“We also had a little bit of quality and I think this is a really big point because this isn’t an easy place to come to.”

Stevenage moved to the top of the division thanks to the point through two goals from Jamie Reid.

Simpson believes that his players had to work hard but their efforts were rewarded in the end.

He said: "The thing about getting something here is that you have to come and put a right shift in. We’ve done that and I thought we thoroughly deserved a point.

“I really do believe if we’d been more consistent about the way we competed and tracked runners then we could easily have got three. People might say we got a bit of luck with the offside goal, whether it was offside I don’t really know, and they were complaining our first goal was offside.

“I haven’t seen it, I haven’t got a clue. I thought we did a lot of good things at a tough place. These are a really difficult side to play against but thankfully we’re able to take something home with us.”

The Blues have been adapting to life in League One following their play-off promotion last campaign.

Simpson said: "I do think they showed real character, and that’s the biggest thing we take away from it.

“We’ve shown that we can compete, and I said to the players at the end of the game that they’ve got to believe that they’re a good side.

“They’ve got to understand what we’re capable of. We’ve done well in this game, we’ve got into some good areas, created good opportunities, and I thought we defended set plays really well for the most part, and that’s their strength and biggest threat.

“The second goal was such a sucker punch because we have a corner and we don’t lock out, we miss a couple of challenges on the halfway line, and I do think it’s a good finish from the lad.

“He’s given Callum a bit of a torrid time there and he hit it with power, but you’ve got to stop it at source. The biggest thing when you come to Stevenage is that you have to stop the ball as soon as you can and prevent them from getting into the channels and passes off to strikers.

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