Carlisle head coach Mark Hughes promised his team were “still fighting” after securing a late point in a 1-1 draw at fellow strugglers Accrington.
Callum Whelan rifled home a superb strike in the second minute of stoppage time to cancel out Sonny Aljofree’s 70th-minute opener for Stanley. The visitors also hit the woodwork through Georgie Kelly.
The result left the 23rd-placed Cumbrians four points adrift of Tranmere, and six behind Accrington, with two games to go.
Hughes admitted the 3-2 win over Port Vale on Good Friday, when goalkeeper Gabe Breeze saved a late penalty, affected their Easter Monday performance.
“We just didn’t have that sharpness,” the Welshman said. “We have to accept that the Port Vale game took a lot out of us mentally, physically and emotionally.
“Saying that, they have had one shot on target and scored.
“We hit the post, scored a great goal and had two good opportunities, their keeper has saved two or three and overall and it is a game we could have won.
“I feel if we had two or three days to prepare like we normally do, we would have won that comfortably.
“We showed good character and courage to get a point that might be really important for us, so we will take it and we move on. We are still fighting.
“The belief is still there, we are still in a situation where we can affect our own futures. We take that.
“It’s another point on the board. Will it be enough? We will find out.”
Stanley need one point for survival – although they have a better goal difference than the teams below them.
Manager John Doolan said: “The size of the game, the consequences of it showed in the first half.
“We weren’t happy with how we played in the first half, we looked fatigued in our decision-making and I couldn’t wait to get them in at half-time.
“We were better in the second half and Ben Woods has that quality, he has whipped a ball in and Sonny Aljofree has got on the end of it.
“Then at the end, we are defending too deep, perhaps nervousness has come in and six minutes of added time has given their fans a lift.
“We went deeper, there are a couple of near-misses, they had the momentum and we have to deal with that on the pitch. We have young lads who are learning on the job.
“We have dropped 21 points from a winning position this season and we should be further up the table but we are where we are.
“It has got to be done, mathematically. We could have done that today, but I can’t be too flat.
“I think the last few minutes sum our season up. We have had it too often.
“This has been a learning process and it should make us stronger.”
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