The recent inclement weather has claimed a casualty today with the Youth Cup fixture against Mansfield Town now postponed until next Tuesday evening.

Youth team Boss Eric Kinder told us: "It's disappointing that this has happened, because we were ready for it. You have to expect this kind of thing at this time of year though, so we just get on with it. We've no control over the weather, and you have to go with the decision that the ground staff have made, as they know the conditions over there better than anyone. I spoke to them last night and they think that the weather will pick up, so it will probably be a better surface all round come this time next week, which will make for a much better game.

It should be played next Tuesday night, so it's exactly the same for us preparation wise. We'll play on Saturday, hopefully stay injury free, and then turn our minds towards what is a big game for us after that one is done and dusted.

We're at home this weekend, so it should make things even easier for us in that respect, as we won't have any of the travelling to contend with. It's also a very good game for us to get our teeth in to so, preparation wise, it couldn't really be any better for us.

The one down side from it all is that Dan Wordsworth will now miss out. His suspension will kick in, but we've already seen that we have plenty of cover, so it shouldn't make too much difference.

I've already spoken to the Manager about the fixture situation next week, and he has been superb about it. He told me not to worry about the Reserve match, as he wants me to be planning for the Youth Cup game on the Tuesday. His opinion is that Wednesday will take care of itself, with our Cup game being the priority.

That's absolutely fantastic to hear, it really is. It's good for me to be working with someone who will go out of their way to help. He's looking at it as an important fixture for the club, as well as being important to the lads. You can find, at some clubs, that a Youth team is well down the pecking order, but that isn't the case here at Carlisle United. He fully supports the concept that we are here to develop these young players with, if possible, the end result being that we get as many through to the professional ranks as possible. That's why he has placed the Tuesday game as his priority, with Wednesday taking care of itself. I can't thank him enough for that."