Keith Curle reveals Hartlepool United injury update and how the dressing room reacted to Carlisle United defeat

Here is everything Curle said about Saturday’s game, an update on injuries and the post-match dressing room reaction to Hartlepool’s defeat to Carlisle United:

Curle on defeat

“I can take defeat. I’ve been in a lot of professional games and you have to lose but I don’t think we lost in the right way. I don’t think we were competitive.

“The elation of Tuesday night didn’t carry on.

“Players have got to learn and understand that there is a minimum requirement to have a progression in your career - you can’t be an inconsistent performer.

“You have to be reliable, consistent, dependable and you want that tagged on your name, we didn’t have enough players that turned up.”

Curle on injuries and team selection

“Menayese was injured. He went over on his ankle and it ballooned up and he was unable to walk on it. He’s been getting treatment from the physio so he will return.

“Wes [McDonald] came on, started the game and showed that spark and got on the ball a lot during the first-half. Second-half, he just couldn’t get control of the ball or the service.

“The physio has [assessed Jack Hamilton] but you have to give it 24 or 48 hours to let the injury settle down and then assess it fully.”

Curle on how to get consistency of performances

“I know it’s there, that’s where the frustration is because I saw it in spades and abundance on Tuesday night.

“Now it’s about working mentally, physically and tactically with the players because I know it’s in there but it has got to be shown [on the pitch].

“Again, they’re disappointed as well, it’s not just my disappointment. As a changing room, they know they haven’t competed and they’ve been done by a team that had lots of players that have put in consistent performances and made good decisions.

“We didn’t. We had good opportunities but we didn’t make movements to go in-behind. We know the areas we want to work and the players we want to get in there but we were [too] reactive and waiting to see where the ball was going to go.”

Curle on letting fans down

“I’m disappointed because they [the fans] played their part. They turned up in their numbers and they were vocal. We let them down because we didn’t run that extra yard that I know is there because it was there on Tuesday. We need that level of consistency where we bring that every week.”

Curle on sharing goals throughout the team

“As a whole unit we want to be chipping in with goals. Every time we get a set-piece, it’s an opportunity to score if we can get another two or three inches out of the players.

“We’ve got good delivery but we need a little more desire of wanting to score when we’re in the box.”

Curle on dressing room reaction

“A few players admitted that they didn’t do enough in the first contact or the second contact and that was blatant to everybody that was here. We weren’t as competitive, more so in the second-half, as we were on Tuesday.”