Aruna Dindane, Danny Webber and Anthony Vanden Borre were all on target for Pompey as they came from behind to wrap up the win at Brunton Park.

Dindane in particular caught the eye, slotting home the equaliser after Ian Harte had given the hosts an early lead, and setting up Vanden Borre in the second half to make it 3-1.

It was the Ivory Coast striker's first appearance since joining the club from Lens and Hart said he was hoping to get the player fully fit so he could boost Pompey's ailing Barclays Premier League campaign, which moves on to a home fixture against Everton on Saturday off the back of six straight defeats.

Hart said: "I think he did very well. I had to give him a couple of weeks' fitness work when he joined us.

"I took him out of training to do that work and he's worked tremendously hard. He's still got to get match fit, but I was delighted with his contribution.

"He's only had one game in two months though so it's a bit early to say whether he will make the squad for Saturday."

Hart was forced to make sweeping changes for the cup tie to a Portsmouth side already struggling to gel after undergoing huge reconstruction over the summer.

But the manager was pleased to give new players like Webber - who played 86 minutes on his first start for the club - a chance to get some game time under their belts.

"The majority of them have been in the squad anyway but it does them good to play football," Hart said.

"It's very difficult to get your squad players games and everybody will be feeling slightly better about themselves at the moment after participating in a win.

"I keep saying, we did all our shopping in 48 hours before the deadline closed. We have to try and get players games and get them up to speed. This was a very useful game to do that in."

Having watched them deal with his team in a clinical fashion, Carlisle manager Greg Abbott said he felt that Portsmouth had enough about them to lift themselves out of their current predicament.

"It's tough to say because the Premier League is so different in terms of quality from our level, with the amount of finances involved," Abbott said.

"But they looked a good side, didn't they? A lot of pace, a lot of power.

"I think defensively they look like they might have problems, although I don't think that was their first-choice back four.

"But certainly going forward, they seem to have a lot of options and a lot of attacking ideas.

"I think if they can be collective and stay together and defend well and properly, keeping as many clean sheets as possible - and Paul will work on that - then they have a chance.

"We wish them all the best. They didn't come here with any arrogance or attitude. They have come here as a Premier League side off the back of a bad run and done a very, very professional job. Good luck to them."