Carlisle on verge of homecoming

By Pete Oliver

Brunton Park is set to see some action at the weekend

Carlisle are set to play their first home game at Brunton Park for over a month on Saturday.

The freak floods that devastated Carlisle in January also took their toll on the city's football ground.

The pitch was under eight feet of water and the dressing rooms, gymnasium and club offices were all badly damaged.

Carlisle have managed just two games away from home in the Conference since, while their two FA Trophy tie wins have come on neutral grounds.

In the meantime a massive clean-up operation has been underway and those efforts - subject to final health and safety checks - will be rewarded when the Cumbrians entertain Gravesend and Northfleet on Saturday.

"Everybody in Carlisle has been through a lot in the last six weeks and hopefully this will give everybody a lift at the weekend," player-manager Paul Simpson told BBC Sport.

"There's a lot of work gone in to get the club back into the ground from (owner) Fred Story and his men and the local community and it looks very promising.

"Everybody has been doing their bit and there is a good spirit about the place.

"If there has been a positive to come out of the flood it's that Fred Story is doubly determined to make the club a success."

Simpson admits his side have been disrupted

That means regaining the Football League status Carlisle relinquished with their relegation from League Two last season.

Carlisle's early title challenge has since faded and with the postponement of recent fixtures they stand 17 points behind Conference leaders Barnet, with two games in hand.

However, Simpson maintains a positive outlook on Carlisle's promotion prospects as his side looks forward to a fresh start at the weekend.

He added: "It's been disruptive to us and it's been hard just from an organisational point of view.

"But we have still managed to train in different places, the insurance has taken care of a lot of things and hopefully we can get it out of our system.

"It's not the end of the world and we have come through it. The ground looks in good shape and the pitch has had a break.

"Hopefully we are back there now and we should have great support on Saturday.

"We have got to start winning our home games again and if we get on a run I still believe there are plenty of games left to achieve something this year.

"We know it will be difficult and the first aim is to make sure we get in the play-offs.

"After that, we've got to make sure we win our games and see what happens to Barnet.

"We showed last weekend (in the Trophy) that they have flaws in their squad and I'd like to think we can put pressure on them."