Carlisle United drawn at home in FA Cup second round
Carlisle United have been drawn to face either Rochdale or Maidstone United at home in the second round of this season's Emirates FA Cup competition.The Cumbrians negotiated a tricky tie against National League South promotion hopefuls St Albans City on Sunday, whilst League One play-off spot chasers Rochdale had a real scare against National League outfit Maidstone United. Dale needed a last ditch equaliser from Callum Camps to avoid defeat in a hard-fought game and to take the tie to a replay [to be played at Spotland on Tuesday 15 November].
Manager Keith Curle said: "It's an exciting competition anyway but it definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat when you're one of the last teams to be drawn out of the hat!
"The reward for coming through a real test against St Albans on Sunday is a home tie. That's what everyone wants with any cup competition so we now have to wait and see who our opponents will be after they have their replay next week.
"The beauty of the FA Cup means that we will either be the favourites, if we face Maidstone, or the underdogs, if we face Rochdale. Either way, we won't be taking anything for granted.
"We'll assess the other team and we'll make sure we know their strengths and weaknesses. Being at home gives us an opportunity to progress and I'm sure our fans will be out in numbers to help us to do our jobs.
"As we say after every draw, we don't start to look at it until it's our next game. Our focus has to be on each game as it comes along. That approach has been successful for us so far this season and we won't allow that to change."
"The 'added interest factor' with this draw is that we don't yet know who our opponents will be," he commented. "Next for us is the Fleetwood Town game on Wednesday, which we want to win, and then it's back to league business.
"We've created a very demanding environment which is getting us results. Part of that demand is to make sure we've done everything we can to give us the best possible chance for the next game.
"That's why it's obviously good to be involved in every competition, because we want to be in them all for as long as possible, but we will always centre our work on the way we think we can get a positive result against our next opponents."
Ties to be played weekend of 2, 3, 4 and 5 December 2016. Match details to follow.
