Last updated 14:02, Thursday, 28 August 2008

Capital gain: Gary Madine’s performance was a bright spot at Loftus Road

WHILE Carlisle United plan to take out their midweek frustrations on Yeovil, the Glovers will arrive in Cumbria plotting a backlash of their own.

Russell Slade’s men, like John Ward’s Blues, were given a Carling Cup hiding on Tuesday night and will be hoping their promising league form will not be damaged as a result.

Yeovil lost 5-1 at Middlesbrough while United were going down 4-0 at QPR, and on both occasions it seems the scorelines kept no secrets about the bigger clubs’ dominance.

On his side’s defeat on Teesside, Slade, below, said: “It was a very difficult evening for us, I thought Middlesbrough were excellent in patches.

“We were a little bit out of our depth from time to time but it was a good lesson for us.

“I think the players have enjoyed it and we are not too downbeat about it, which is the important thing.

“We will learn one or two lessons and hopefully we can get back to winning ways in the league.

“You’ve got to smile sometimes and I was enjoying some of the football Middlesbrough played. It was a pleasure to watch, although it hurt when it hit the back of the net.

“We had our left side missing without Nathan Smith and Danny Schofield, but we kept going and kept trying to play. We’ll look for success at Carlisle.”

It was a resounding return to earth for the Glovers, who had knocked out Charlton in the previous round and then held Leeds to a draw in the league last Saturday.

Slade, one of the lower leagues’ most resourceful managers, has inspired an encouraging start for the Huish Park side in League One despite his side being among the bookies' favourites for relegation.

They have taken a win and two draws from their opening three matches, and will on Saturday include Crystal Palace midfielder James Dayton, who has joined on a month’s loan.

Slade has also drafted in Ipswich midfielder Gary Roberts until the end of the year. The manager is without Aidan Downes (knee) while Schofield is not certain to return this weekend after a shin injury. Left-back Smith (groin) also remains a doubt.

The Glovers boss rested experienced striker Lloyd Owusu on Tuesday but he is likely to come into the starting line-up at Brunton Park, along with cup-tied Portsmouth loan goalkeeper Asmir Begovic.

Probable starting XI: Begovic, Peltier, Skiverton, Forbes, Jones, Roberts, Way, Murtagh, Tomlin, Owusu, Warne.