Assistant manager Gav Skelton has been there every step of the way alongside gaffer Paul Simpson this season and, being a Cumbrian lad and a Carlisle fan himself, it comes as little surprise to see how proud he is to be part of a journey that has given the club the chance to achieve promotion to League One.
“It’s exciting, and obviously Saturday was a really good, special day,” he told us. “I’ve never known it to be bouncing like that, it was unbelievable.
“Even leaving the ground and the couple of days since when you’ve bumped into people, there’s still that massive buzz. That’s really special, good, but when you get to where we are now the focus is on the massive prize.
“The club has been there in the Trophy, and no disrespect to that, it’s a day out and it’s great to win it, but this one is a massive prize. That’s why we don’t want to get lost in it.
“We’re 90 minutes away from League One and if we can get one more positive result it will outweigh the achievement of getting to Wembley.
“Now the focus is back on it, and we know it’s a fantastic day and something to look forward to, but we have to focus on what we want from it. I’m really excited about the thought of that.”
It’s that ultimate prize of a step up to the next level of the pyramid that is the main focus for everyone in the group.
“It’s huge, and at the start of the season it probably wasn’t totally in our mindset, but now we’re here, and deservedly so, we want that extra push to finish it off,” he said. “It’s great to get to Wembley and to get everything that comes with it, but the huge prize is for us to potentially get to League One.
“We’re up against a really good Stockport side who will fancy themselves, and obviously we fancy ourselves, so it should be another good advert for League Two. What we haven’t lost in it all is the thought of what’s at stake.
“We’re all really excited about that. I’ve been to Wembley as a fan, the first time we got there and we played Birmingham, and that all felt like a day out. The others have all been days out as well, but this time there’s a lot at stake.
“I’m probably more excited about that than the fact we’re going to Wembley, and that takes a lot.”
“The adrenalin from the weekend will have worn off by now from Saturday,” he added. “That was a fantastic day and it’s one the supporters will really remember, as will the staff and players, because the atmosphere was brilliant.
“I think it was important that we trained on Monday and that we got back out on the grass just to go, yeah, we’re back, well done for how you felt on Saturday, but let’s see if you can do one more.
“We know that feeling will be so good if we do. I think everyone has switched back on, we know what’s important, and we know what we want.
“You have to plan, so we have our plans in place, but it will be no different from how we approach any other game. The difference is that it’s a big stage, a neutral venue, so there are those differences to deal with, but the way we train, prepare and approach it will be the same.”
And, as mentioned, there is another team that will also be taking to the famous turf on Saturday.
“They’re a good side, I’d imagine they’ll go into it as favourites,” he said. “If you look at the players they’ve got, the momentum they’ve enjoyed off the back of their promotions, and with their results since Christmas, and they also have a manager who is really experienced with good coaching staff.
“I can’t speak highly enough of them. We totally respect them but once again it’s about us, and I know they’ll be thinking exactly the same. They know what the prize is, so that brings its own excitement and pressures, and that’s why we aren’t underestimating the task ahead.
“We had a difficult game at their place, and I thought the game here on that Tuesday was a really good one. That was a great advert for League Two football and hopefully we’ll get the same again at the weekend. If it isn’t a good advert, but we win, I really don’t care.
“What we should remember is that we’re also a good side. Over a season, 46 games, 48 as it is for us, the table doesn’t tell lies. With two, three, four or five games you can be in a false position, but it’s a marathon season.
“I think the season started at the end of July and it’s a fact that to find that consistency over such a long period is credit to the players, the staff and to the supporters for sticking with it.
“Like I keep saying, this is a reward for it, but the real reward is even greater, so let’s do what we can to achieve it. It’s been a really positive season whatever happens, but it goes without saying that we want it to be really positive and one for the club’s history.”
With the focus exactly where it should be, we pushed him to give us a sense of what it will mean to him to be out there for the warm-up, and then in the dugout as the game plays out.
“It’ll be good,” he said. “That doesn’t pass you by that it means a lot, and I know sometimes people think I’m really miserable because I play it so low key, we’re all different with things like this, but it will mean a lot.
“Just as we’re speaking about it then, it does mean a lot to be part of it, and just because I’m not jumping around and smiling all the time it doesn’t mean I’m not as happy as the next person. The main thing for me is that I’d like to be really happy come Sunday night.
“As for nerves, I was quite calm on Saturday. I don’t know, I had a good feeling for that game, it was good. It’s always different for me.
“When I was a player, sometimes I didn’t have any nerves at all when I was playing in a big game, and other times I’d be running out for the reserves in front of ten people and really feeling it. I generally handle it quite well because I can be quite reserved and calm at times.”
“The lads will be different as well,” he concluded. “It’s a cup final, isn’t it. It’s 90, 120 minutes, penalties, or whatever, it has to be decided on the day.
“That brings its own excitement and I felt that’s what Saturday was, because it was all on the line then as well. It was that, then, because you don’t get another opportunity.
“It brings pressure, excitement, and everything that comes with it. That’s a big part of how the day goes and I know that the staff and players want to make it a really enjoyable day, obviously for ourselves, but also for the supporters, the city and the county.
“You can feel a real buzz and a sense of momentum with everybody when we’ve been knocking around the last few days and we’re keen for that not just to be for the next few days or weeks, we want it going forward.
“We want to grasp that and hopefully we can keep some of those with us who really enjoyed the play-offs so that they get the bug and start coming back again next season.”