As Burnley look to respond to defeats in their two opening Championship games, the 28-year-old – in line for the 300th league appearance of his career at Crystal Palace tomorrow – feels there is enough talent in the side, in all areas of the pitch, to turn things round.

And he believes scoring the first goal could bring a sea-change in the fortunes of Owen Coyle's side.

Burnley are yet to be in front in the league, and Carlisle said: "The goals that came on Saturday were against the run of play – before that we were completely in control of the game.

"Goals change games – they change the momentum of a game, especially when you're in the mentality of shipping four at Sheffield Wednesday, and then the goal goes against you again against Ipswich.

"There is a chance of people's heads going down, but this is where we need to be stronger.

"We need to stick together, even if we have to go back to basics for a game or two, get that positive result and go from there.

"Football's all about momentum and runs, and that's why, when the first goal of a game goes in, no matter how early, if you're used to conceding or losing, you can think 'here we go again'.

"But it works on the opposite side. You get that first clean sheet and first win, and the next week, if you score the first goal, you step on from there, or go in 0-0 at half-time and don't believe you're going to concede a goal.

"We need to stop what's happening and build from there."

Individual mistakes have to be put to bed, however, before that positive mental attitude kicks in: "We've looked at all seven goals we've conceded, and in every goal you can say it could have been avoided.
"We need to cut out the mistakes.

"We never seem to score the type of goals we give away – any goals we score have to be created, a touch of brilliance from Wade, Blakey or Chris, something like that.

"Whereas, we give away such horrendous goals, and we have to stop that.
"Everyone is totally aware of the amount of goals we've conceded, even if you take it into the back end of last season.
"We know what we're capable of producing.

"You can't have a squad that has the ability to go to Vicarage Road and the Valley and places like that and produce results, and be weak defensively.

"We're not weak defensively, we're strong. Maybe we seem to be psychologically weak at times, but we will get on top of that.

"You would say there is now more ability in the team, going forward, and at times last season we maybe relied on maybe two, Wade or Blakey, to produce something.

"Now there's a bit more flair throughout the team, but you can't have that at a cost to your defensive structure.
"Maybe we're learning."

There is no better time to learn, he feels, that at the start of a campaign, rather than at the end, and he is paying no attention to the league table, which has Burnley bottom: "It's a ridiculously false position. I'm sure back in the day they didn't even produce tables until after five games or so, so we're not looking at that, we know there are a lot of bizarre results early on in every season in every league.

"You see teams maybe win their first two or three games, and end up down the bottom.

"We need to be looking closer to home and sorting ourselves out, not taking any notice of the table just yet.

"There's no better time to learn thing about teams that at the beginning of the season, a prime example is with Watford getting found wanting at the end of last season.

"If you can learn stuff now, progress and build, you've got every chance."

Carlisle can look back with fondness on his first league appearance – "It was at Wrexham for Blackpool, and we were 3-0 down after around 50 minutes, and won 4-3. Tony Ellis got a hat-trick, and Mark Bonner got the winner, I remember it well."

However, that is not the case with his last visit to Selhurst Park when he was dismissed after only seven minutes, in what became a 5-0 mauling: "Hopefully I'll stay on the pitch a lot longer this time!

"I let the ball bounce through, and Scott Sinclair got across me, and the letter of the law says I had to go off.

"It was the right decision, and I got two games for it, which carried over into this season.

"But if you put yourself in that position, you leave yourself open to be punished.

"I completely forgot about it over the summer, and was thoroughly excited in pre-season, only to be reminded about a week before the season that I wouldn't be starting!

"Fortunately, I only missed Saturday/Tuesday, in effect only three days, and I had the chance to get back in the side from there."