Striker Luke Armstrong was delighted to make his return to action as Carlisle United booked their place in the second round of the Emirates FA Cup with a 1-0 victory over Salford City.
Armstrong came off the bench for his first appearance since suffering an ankle injury in pre-season, helping the Blues see out a hard-fought win against their League Two opponents.
The forward was pleased with the performance, particularly the energy shown in the first half and the defensive work required after the break.
"The lads from minute one were absolutely brilliant. I thought, especially the first half, the lads up front set the tone and gave us real high energy.
"We just pushed on from there and kept winning the ball back; probably could have scored a few more.
"And then the second half, obviously they were going to come at us; they're a really good team, they've got unbelievable players. We've done unbelievable to defend."
Armstrong also praised goalkeeper Archie Mair after his first-half penalty save, revealing how highly the shot-stopper is regarded by his teammates.
"He lowers our confidence a little bit in training when we practise them because he keeps saving them.
"But yeah, we back him when we get a penalty against us that he's going to save it. He looks really big in that goal, and he's sharp down to get the ball.
"It was an unbelievable save and credit to him. He's a great lad. We all absolutely love him, so we're over the moon for him."
Having spent several months working towards his return, Armstrong was pleased with how he felt during his first minutes back on the pitch and is now looking forward to building his fitness.
"You can't really replicate playing in a match, and it was only 15 minutes, but there was a lot of work to do, and I had to try and stretch the pitch a little bit, so a lot of runs in behind in a short space of time.
"But yeah, I felt really good in myself, to be fair, with the injury that I've had in my ankles.
"I felt really good, so confident going into more games, and yeah, hopefully more minutes are to come."
