Carlisle United boss Keith Curle hailed the influence of his seasoned campaigners after Antony Sweeney’s winner handed his side a 2-1 victory at high-flying Leyton Orient last night.

United were playing their 3,500th game in the Football League, and took the lead at the Matchroom Stadium thanks to Derek Asamoah’s 62nd-minute breakaway goal.

But Mathieu Baudry’s header levelled matters just two minutes later, only for former Hartlepool man Sweeney to win it with less than 20 minutes remaining.

And Curle, who was sent to the stands along with O’s assistant boss Andy Hessenthaler after an incident on the touchline in the second half, lauded the impact of his senior players after making seven alterations to his starting line-up for the second successive league game.

“We had a gameplan. We played a lot of experienced players today that understood their roles and responsibilities,” he said.

“We took some of our flair players out of the game because we needed people in there just to know their job and stick to it throughout the 95 minutes, as it was.

“I’ve got to say, I thought they carried out their instructions to a man excellently.”

Ian Hendon’s hosts struck the woodwork twice before Asamoah’s deadlock-breaker, piling the pressure onto Carlisle as they sought the win that would consolidate their place amongst the frontrunners in League Two.

But the forward’s strike just after the hour, which came against the run of play, was cancelled out within the space of two minutes by Baudry’s header from a corner before transfer-listed Sweeney scissor-kicked in his first of the campaign to win it for the Blues.

And afterwards Curle refuted suggestions that he should take Sweeney and fellow midfielder Gary Dicker off the transfer list, whilst hinting that further changes to his side could be made for Saturday’s visit to Stevenage.

“Why should I? They’re performing excellently,” said the former England international.

“Any player who is in the last year of their contract is on the transfer list.

“They’re good professionals, they’re buying into what we’re trying to do and they know we’ve got a very strong squad.

“And don’t be surprised now if, on Saturday, there’s players who have played 90 minutes today in a winning team that might not be involved.

“That is the strength of the squad that I think we’ve built.”

Meanwhile, Curle also confirmed that loanee Alex Gilliead was likely to miss a portion of his temporary stint with the club if he is called up for international duty.

The Newcastle United youngster, 19, could be absent from October 4 to October 14, though Curle wouldn’t confirm for certain whether the forward had been named in Keith Downing’s Young Lions squad for their Elite Cup fixtures in Germany against the host nation, Holland and Turkey.