Paul Cook says Carlisle have done well to stay in with a chance of the play-offs in a long, tough season for them - and reckons they will present Pompey with a stiff test this weekend.

The Cumbrian visitors are ninth in the table and Cook says that's a credit to them and their manager Keith Curle.

He told the Pompey website: Cook said: 'They’ve had an excellent season, despite having runs in both cup competitions and seeing matches called off because of the terrible flooding.

'So to still be in with a very realistic chance of getting into the play-offs shows what a good job Keith Curle has done up there. He’s building a decent side and their performance against Bristol Rovers on Monday was excellent.

'We’ll certainly have our hands full, so we have to make sure that we impose ourselves on the game.'

Cook has no new injury problems after an extended break between games caused by Monday's AFC Wimbledon game being postponed. He is urging his players to focus on their own efforts and not worry about how their promotional rivals are faring.

He told the site: 'It’s a bit of a guessing game with how the sides around you are going to do at this stage of the season. But it all comes down to how many points we can get — there are 24 still available and there will be an amount that gets you up.

'We still have a chance of going up automatically and we if get into the play-offs then we could have a Wembley appearance, which would be fantastic for everyone.'

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