carabaocupfirstrounddraw15jun18

Carlisle United have been drawn to face Championship side Blackburn Rovers at Brunton Park in the first round of this season's Carabao Cup.

The teams last met in this competition in August 2013 when the Blues won a dramatic tie courtesy of a tense penalty shoot-out, which eventually went the way of United when Dave Symington drilled his spot kick into the roof of the net.

David Amoo [2] and Lewis Guy scored the goals for Greg Abbott's side, with Tom Cairney, Chris Taylor and Alan Judge bagging for the visitors. Cairney was also sent off during extra time when he tangled with Mark Beck on the touchline.

The fixture sees a return to Cumbria for former-Blues favourite Danny Graham who notched 40 goals in his 113 game stay with United between January 2007 and July 2009.

Manager John Sheridan said: "All you ever want from a cup draw is to be drawn at home, and we've got that, so it'll be a good game for us to look forward to.

"Blackburn will still be on a high following their promotion last season, and I know they'll want to come here to do things properly. Tony [Mowbray] will be looking for his team to continue the momentum and a game against us in the early part of the season will be part of that.

"It's a chance for us to go up against a side from a higher level and show what we're about. Our players will be under no illusion that we want to stay in the competition because, as this club has seen in the recent past, it can throw up some very interesting fixtures and opportunities the further you go.

"As I say, it's one to look forward to for everybody."

EFL clubs voted to remove extra-time [final excluded] at the recent AGM with tied games going straight to penalties when the final whistle has blown. The penalty format has also changed for the competition, with it reverting to the standard ABAB sequence for the season ahead.

Tie to be played week commencing Monday 13 August - details to be confirmed soon.

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