SWINDON Town midfielder Jak McCourt believes out-of-sorts Carlisle United will be extremely concerned about another loss this weekend as Richie Wellens’ in-form side soar up to Brunton Park.

Since beating Port Vale away on January 26, United have not won in five and as a result have slipped out of the League Two play-off spots and down to ninth – one place above Swindon.

Conversely, Wellens and his side have collected 10 points from a possible 15 available and have an outside shot at the play-offs still.

However, Town’s slim promotion hopes will largely be affected by how they fare over the next four days in games against fellow play-off-chasers Carlisle and Stevenage.

If Wellens’ men emerge unscathed from the next two fixtures, belief will likely swell further within the camp, but midfielder McCourt knows any points gained in the coming days will be hard-earned.

He said: “We’re still taking it game by game. We’re not focusing too far ahead, and we know Carlisle is going to be really tough.

“I’ve played there a few times now and it’s never an easy game when you go there.

“But with the form we’re in, they’ll be more worried about us than we are of them.

“We’re not going into the game worrying about anyone else, we know we’ve got a really good squad.

“We’re not far off the play-offs now – four points behind and a game in hand. It’s just consistency and that’s something that we’ve got throughout the squad now.”

Over the course of Swindon’s last six games, Town have scored 11 times with eight different scorers – a statistic that has gone some way to continuing their ascent towards the top seven.

But it is not simply the all-around goal threat that has encouraged McCourt, it is also the confidence that he believes his team mates are now showing on the defensive side of the ball.

He said: “At the start of the season, it was only a couple of guys getting the goals – people like Michael Doughty – but now it’s a range of lads, everyone is chipping in and winning the game for us.

“The work-rate from the whole team, and not just the way we are defensively, we’re a really solid unit now, we’re hard to break down and hopefully we can continue that.

“Whatever the manager has asked, I’ve done. Not just me, but everyone else around me – we’ve been playing really good football and picking up the results.

“As soon as someone new steps in, they’re filling that place really well and that’s been the key to our success.”