Stevenage boss Alex Revell stressed his players have to be tough after they were bullied in a dismal 4-0 defeat at Carlisle

Nick Anderton, Josh Kayode, Lewis Alessandra and Joe Riley put sorry Stevenage, who also had Luke Prosser sent off, to the sword at Brunton Park.

Revell was especially critical of Chelsea loanee Jamie Cumming’s howler that gifted the high-flying hosts the lead in the first 10 minutes.

He said: “You have to be tough, you have to be a man and show you want to win and we didn’t do that.

“It’s a really disappointing day at the office. We knew what to expect, we knew it would be direct, balls into the box, second contacts and we didn’t win any of them.

“It wasn’t about tactics, it was about dealing with those situations and we didn’t.

“We worked on it all week and it’s down to the individuals to do their jobs and who wants it.

“Who wants to get their heads on second balls and we didn’t do that.

“Physically they just outfought us. When you watch that it’s tough to take.

“The mistake for the first goal cost us because you go 1-0 down in 10 minutes at a team that hasn’t lost at home for a while.

“You can’t accept that and I’ve been full of praise for him but you have to know when you’ve made a mistake.”

Carlisle are just four points off the top of League Two after this fine display.

They have won eight of their last nine home games and are now being roared on by some of their fans after coronavirus restrictions were partially lifted.

And Chris Beech beamed: “The first half was very good. We created a lot of chances and we could actually have had a couple more goals.

“To be honest, it felt good before kick-off, there was an energy in the group, and they took it into the game.

“Stevenage couldn’t get near us and I’m so pleased for Nick Anderton. He’s our captain and he’s wanted to get his goal, it’s something he prides himself on.

“There was maybe an element of luck with the keeper spilling it but the important thing is that we built on it and we got ourselves a cushion.

“That’s important against a team like Stevenage because Alex (Revell) has them working hard. Their league position is tough for them but they’ve been hard to beat.

“We’ve worked hard to overcome that, we’ve dominated and we’ve played some excellent football.

“The fans are back with us now, which is superb, and I think they’re expecting this kind of thing from us now.

“That’s eight wins from nine league home games and even though I don’t pay too much attention to things like that, it’s a stat we want to protect as much as we can.”