CARLISLE United boss Paul Simpson hopes his side are catching Oldham Athletic at the right time.

Simpson has had a similar effect at Brunton Park as John Sheridan has at Boundary Park, with Carlisle winning back-to-back games since he returned to take charge just over a week ago, lifting the Cumbrians out of the relegation zone.

Latics are unbeaten in seven under Sheridan, winning three and drawing four. And it is that resilience that Simpson is mindful of ahead of this survival six-pointer.

"They’ll be up for it without any shadow of a doubt. You can see that in the games so far, or the last two anyway. They’re going to be up for it. But they’re doing some good stuff as well, they’re really effective and causing a lot of problems," said the Carlisle boss.

"We know it’s going to be tough, I’m just hoping they’ve had their crest of a wave and we’re just starting on it and we’ve just got to go and do our jobs.

"We’ve done that by looking at ourselves for the majority of our preparation and we’ll do that again going into the weekend."

Simpson, who has overseen wins at Leyton Orient and at home to Rochdale, added: “There’s no doubt it will be a tough game. Shez gets his teams working, they’ve got a really simple way of playing but they’re really effective at it.

"They’ve had a good run of results, they were a little bit unfortunate the other night where they conceded a goal from a deflected cross come shot type thing.

"We know it will be tough, but we’re going into it full of confidence and belief on the back of two really strong performances.

"I’ve said it a lot this week already but I really want us to be in more control and pass the ball better.

"I’m not saying it’s going to be silky football that you see in the Champions League but I still think we’ve got players who can show more control than we are at the moment."