Reggie Lambe’s and his Carlisle United teammates Emirates FA Cup Second Round Replay against Gillingham tonight has been postponed due to the recent extremely cold spell of weather.
United’s ground staff had the covers on the pitch as early as Friday afternoon, but temperatures dipped to -11 on Sunday night and to -6 last night, leaving the playing surface with frost-hardened areas, particularly in the shaded sections of the stadium.
Meanwhile winger Lambe has found himself with a key role in recent away games as back-up to lone striker Richie Bennett, but with a license to find areas to hurt the opposition whenever the team has the ball.
We spoke to him about what has been a run of impressive personal performances ahead of the Monday afternoon training session.
“I am enjoying the role I’m playing at the moment,” he admitted. “The gaffer has given me freedom to roam about the pitch, but I know when we lose the ball that I still have defensive responsibilities.
“The good things is that I know I’ve got the players behind me who can act as a safety net if the ball goes past me, which means I can get forward as much as I can. The gaffer has given me loads of freedom going forward, but he has made sure I get back when I need to.
“As long as I keep getting back in and helping out defensively then I think he’ll continue to give me that freedom.”
“I do feel like I’m in some of my best form at the moment,” he added. “I feel like I’ve come into my own, and with the freedom I’ve got it means I can get around the pitch and get on the ball in places where I can try to make things happen. I feel really good playing in that position.
“The other thing is that I know I’ve got players waiting to take my place, so I know I’ve got to perform in every game. Sully [John O’Sullivan] is back from injury now as well, so that means there’s more competition. I have to make sure I keep performing so I keep my shirt.”
Looking back at Saturday’s thrilling 3-3 draw, he told us: “We were disappointed at full time, to be honest. To take the lead twice and not get the three points was frustrating. We’ve conceded from free kicks all season and we know it’s something we need to look at as a team.
“Both of the free kicks were great finishes and I don’t think there was anything Jack [Bonham] could have done, but to concede from more free kicks is a bit upsetting for us.
“We conceded just before half time and that was a bit of a blow. We worked really hard on not conceding from set plays, we knew they were a team who would look for that type of situation, so the first goal was disappointing.”
“We started the second half well and we got an early goal, which was good,” he continued. “That gave us momentum and we deserved to take the lead. We were pleased with how we started the second half and we want to continue that, as well as try to stop conceding goals. If we do that we can push on from where we are.
“We always know we’re going to score goals and we’d been keeping them out at the other end. We need to get back to that because it is aggravating when we do concede, especially after working so hard on trying to stop certain situations, like set pieces, from happening in the first place.
“To be disappointed with the draw is natural after going in front twice. We tried to get on the ball as much as we could, even though the pitch wasn’t the best, but we showed good fight and determination to get something out of the game.
“We would have liked to have won to take us level on points with Newport. I think the club haven’t won at Newport for a few years, so for us to get a point was a positive, and hopefully we can build on that now.”
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