United Youth Boss Eric Kinder is set to sign a 3-year extension to his contract that will keep him at Brunton Park until June 2011.

Kinder, who guided the lads through a thrilling FA Youth Cup campaign last season, whilst also chasing honours on the League front, has agreed the deal with the club and will complete the formalities early next week.

United Boss John Ward said: "It goes without saying that we are all delighted that Eric has agreed to stay at the club. We have all seen the progress that has been made within the Youth set up at Brunton Park, and we want that to continue. The development of Youth is extremely important, and it is excellent news that Eric will be here to carry on that work for us."

We spoke to the man of the moment earlier this afternoon, and he told us:

"The contract is all agreed, so it should be signed fairly soon.

It goes without saying that I'm delighted, and I'm actually really surprised at how quickly I settled in to life, not just at the club, but in Carlisle in general. I left my home town club, Blackburn Rovers, and even though I'd worked at different places over the years, this was the first time that I'd really moved away from home.

That was all made easier for me because I enjoy working with the people that are around me. The coaching and playing staff at the club are superb, and we've also got an excellent Board of Directors. They really are a fantastic group. I'd go as far as saying that they are the most honest group of people that I have ever dealt with.

Fred has supported me all the way, and Steve Pattison has been absolutely unbelievable with the things he has done for me on the Youth side of life. On top of that, John Nixon is probably the easiest Managing Director that I've ever had to deal with. Having that kind of backing makes life so much easier all round.

All in all I'm over the moon, and I'm looking forward to the next 3 years as we all work together to push on even further."

We'll have full reaction from Eric Later.