IslandStats.com - Bermuda Sports Online

IslandStats.com

Reggie Lambe and his Carlisle United teammates made it into the second round of this season's Carabao Cup courtesy of an impressive first round away victory against Fleetwood Town on Tuesday night.

And their reward is a home tie against Championship promotion hopefuls Sunderland in front of what manager Keith Curle hopes will be a bumper crowd.

"Sunderland are a fantastic football club and we all have to look forward to hosting them," he said. "They are a Premier League club in every way, other than their current status, and I'm sure they'll be working hard to put that right.

"They have a new manager and a new management regime who will be demanding very high standards and I have no doubt that they'll come to us determined to do things properly."

"It's a chance for us to show everyone that we have a Championship level crowd in waiting," he added. "We will need to make it a very noisy and vibrant atmosphere and an environment where our players can thrive and play their football.

"That's why we need everybody who has an affiliation with this club to come along and roar us on. We're coming up against a strong, professional outfit but we will give it a very good go.

"Our attitude and approach is that we face challenges head on. This is a real test but we don't step away from it or go into our shells. These players have shown that they don't get overawed by any situation they come up against.

"It's a great opportunity for us to take on a massive club on our own patch. I'd say this is one you don't want to miss!"

Looking back at the last few seasons in this competition, he said: “We’ve had some very good encounters against some really good teams in both of the big cup competitions. QPR, Derby, Everton and Liverpool stand out as the obvious ones we all talk about, and we came away from all of those games having enhanced our reputation as a football club.

“Cup competitions always bring different types of challenges, particularly when you go up against teams from higher levels, but it’s there to be enjoyed and embraced. We’ve got a football club now that enjoys this kind of thing and that’s why it's been such a good competition for us.

“What we’ll do is look at this game and ask ourselves if we can get to the third round and then to the fourth round. It’s a cup competition and anything can happen if you approach every game properly and if you go into it with the attitude that it’s there to be won."