Steven Pressley happy to see Carlisle win ugly at Scunthorpe

Steven Pressley believes Carlisle have “got a monkey off our back” after grinding out a 1-0 victory at struggling Scunthorpe.

Substitute Ryan Loft scored the only goal of the game with an hour gone, and while the Cumbrians boss admitted his side had often been up against it against an Iron side that had 16 efforts at goal, he was delighted they clung on to win “ugly”.

“It’s a massive result for us because the players have had a lot kicks of late, in terms of playing so well and not getting the results they deserve,” said Pressley.

“Today we didn’t play well – in fact, we were really poor – but we got the breakthrough and we dug in to see it out.

“We didn’t play what I would call the Carlisle way, but we showed a different side to our game.

“We never got control aside from maybe a 10-minute period in the first half, so we just had to see it out ugly – which is an important character to have.

“Our away performances haven’t been good enough this season, so to get that monkey off our back in terms of a first away victory is really important.

“Getting the result today was the most important thing. Although I don’t think our confidence would have been dented if we hadn’t, you always need a win.”

Carlisle failed to muster an effort at goal during an opening 45 minutes that Scunthorpe dominated, but after a bright start to the second period, the Cumbrians made the most of one of the few openings they created.

The home side were unhappy with Loft’s challenge on home skipper Andy Butler in the build-up to the goal, which saw the ball returned to the substitute and he fired low into the bottom corner.

Scunthorpe again got back on the front foot, but aside from a Matthew Lund header which was pushed over the bar seven minutes from time, they did not trouble visiting keeper Adam Collin.

“It’s extremely frustrating that yet again I’m talking about a defeat,” said Iron boss Paul Hurst, whose side remain winless this term.

“I feel like I’ve done something wrong somewhere – whether it’s in a previous life or this one.

“The players put a lot in and couldn’t have done much more, aside from getting on the scoresheet, which is the most important part admittedly.

“I don’t think we’ll dominate a game like that again all season in terms of nullifying the opposition and creating the chances that we did ourselves.

“But it’s not quite happening for us at the moment and we’re left scratching our heads at what we can do to try to change that.”