Carlisle United Football Club

“This has been the best thing I’ve done in football by a long way for me,” he said. “It’s a big step up from playing in front of 1,000 people, as I was before I came to Carlisle, to playing in front of more than 40,000. It’s crazy.

“I think we were all up for it more then ever. It’s the biggest game most of us have had and we’ve been looking forward to it for a while. I think that showed. 

“To be honest, I wasn’t nervous when I was in the changing room but when I walked out and saw their team, that made it all feel real. Credit to us for the way we coped with the quality players they have.”

“We did well to get it penalties,” he told us. “It can go either way once you get to that. We defended and dug in because some of us were struggling once we got into the second half of extra time. 

“That’s when we had to come together as a group and make sure we didn’t concede. The way we performed is going to be a confidence boost for everyone. We can go into the game on Saturday off the back of a draw with Liverpool knowing we could have beat them on penalties.”

On his own stunning penalty, he said: “It definitely isn’t something I’ve been working on. The keeper was moving a lot so I looked right at the ball and decided I was going to put it there. 

“I didn’t even see it go in! My heart was in my mouth when it hit the woodwork, but it worked out well.”

“The fans were behind that goal as well,” he concluded. “They were unbelievable. I heard them more than I heard the Liverpool fans at some points of the game, so credit to them as well. 

“It’s been a good run for everybody. We did well to get here by beating Chesterfield and QPR and it’s allowed us to show how good we are. We have to carry that on in another big game against Newport at the weekend.”