Carlisle earned themselves a semi-final against Leeds with a 1-1 draw at home to Bournemouth on Saturday, a result which extended the noticeable dip in form which has gripped John Ward's side during the final month of the season.

A return of only one win from eight games curbed Carlisle's chance of automatic promotion and the club will travel to Elland Road for the first leg of their play-off semi-final next Monday, looking for their first away victory since March 22.

The Brunton Park club boast League One's strongest home record, but they have been beaten nine times on the road this season and have won only six of their 23 away fixtures.

But Lumsdon said: "When people write us off, that's when we're at our strongest – so let them write us off.

"Leeds are a good team with good players but we matched them twice this season. Bring it on.

"We might not be the best players in the league, but you won't find a team with better spirit or determination to do it for each other."

Ward claimed that his team will occupy the position of underdogs next week and vowed to keep his pre-match comments to a minimum ahead of Monday's first leg in Yorkshire.

Ward said: "We go in there as the underdogs and we'll probably let them do the bit of chit-chat that they want to do.

"We'll try and beat them over two games. There'll be two full houses and everybody's going to be excited about it."

Leeds attracted a crowd of over 38,000 to last weekend's 2-1 victory over Gillingham and a similar attendance is anticipated for the opening clash with Carlisle.

Gillingham's visit brought in a total of 38,256 supporters – the biggest Football League crowd of the season and the highest turn-out seen for a competitive football fixture at Elland Road for four years.

United midfielder David Prutton said: "It does make a hell of a difference. It's encouraging after the way that the season's gone – with the ups and the downs – that they're here and they're here in numbers."