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Carlisle keeper Keiren still confident
Dougie Freedman's dramatic intervention at Elland Road has not altered Carlisle United's prospects of reaching the League One play-off final, according to their goalkeeper Keiren Westwood.
Westwood was beaten by Freedman's scrambled finish fully five minutes into injury-time on Monday night, and the crucial strike at the end of a pulsating first leg has left the League One play-off semi-final between Leeds and Carlisle delicately balanced.
Carlisle grasped the initiative with a 2-1 victory in Yorkshire, but Freedman's strike – a close-range shot in the 96th minute – denied John Ward's side a two-goal lead which many at Elland Road feared would prove decisive during the return leg at Brunton Park tomorrow night.
Leeds will travel to Cumbria knowing anything less than a victory over 90 minutes would end their bid for promotion to the Championship but the pressure on Gary McAllister's players has been eased by their late reply on Monday.
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Westwood, however, denied that the injury-time goal had dampened Carlisle's optimism, and insisted the victory alone was enough to strengthen Carlisle's chance of an appearance at Wembley in the play-off final on May 25.
The 23-year-old said: "Their crowd stuck with them and over the whole course of the game they probably deserved a goal, even though it came a bit late.
"I don't think it's a disappointment. Other people will see it that way but all the lads are buzzing.
"Nobody was down. Why should we be? To come and win at Elland Road is a massive confidence boost.
"Leeds are a massive club with a massive fanbase and it's not so long since they were playing Champions League football.
"We were 10th in the Conference a few years ago and now we're playing teams like that in the League One play-offs.
"It's a massive stage, the League One play-off semi-finals at Elland Road against Leeds in front of 36,000 (supporters). You can't help but enjoy it. If you don't, you shouldn't be on the pitch.
"It was a great game to play in and I thought we played some fantastic football. We kept the ball brilliantly compared with some of our recent games."
Carlisle's victory on Monday – only their second win in nine matches – was aided by a near faultless performance from Westwood, who enhanced his burgeoning reputation with a collection of excellent saves.
The former Manchester City trainee made two brilliant blocks from Freedman and Jermaine Beckford in the first half – the second save denying an effort which McAllister believed was heading for the net – and his success in repelling another Beckford effort with his legs shortly before half-time protected Carlisle's 1-0 lead at a key stage.
Westwood admitted he had been pleased with his first block from Beckford – a full-length stop in front of Elland Road's Kop – saying: "It was a good save, off my absolute fingertips.
"Jermaine was giving me a bit of banter on the pitch – it was like me against Jermaine at times.
"He's a good player and they're a good side, but so are we. We've been in the top six all season. Nobody had a bad game."
Westwood's contribution drew praise from both McAllister and Carlisle manager Ward, who admitted the youngster had been a crucial part of both Monday's clash in Leeds and the Cumbrian club's season as a whole.
Ward said: "He's a good goalkeeper. We try and defend in front of him as well as we can but when they get to him he's got good spring and he's agile.
"We've got a good team but all good teams need a good goalkeeper and we've got one."
But Ward also agreed with McAllister's claim that the weight of the expectancy would swing towards Carlisle tomorrow evening in front of their home crowd at Brunton Park and with a first-leg scoreline narrowly in their favour.
Ward said: "I was asked prior to the semi-final if being at home in the second leg is an advantage, and the answer to that is no.
"I don't think any advantage can come by where you're going to play. (Brunton Park) is just a bit more familiar to us.
"We actually go into the game with the expectancy on us. It was on Leeds (at Elland Road) but that changes. We're now expected by our supporters to win, and that's another challenge for my team to accept and see if they can deal with it.
"We'll try and play but we've not got as good a pitch as Leeds have so it might not flow as comfortably for both teams.
"It was probably Elton John's fault because he performed on it last summer and messed it up. Blame Elton."
A draw in Cumbria tomorrow would be sufficient to secure Carlisle's progression to the play-off final.
But Westwood, who was seconds away from his 20th clean sheet of the season on Monday, rejected the suggestion that Carlisle might seek a stalemate from the outset at Brunton Park.
"We've got to see the game as 0-0 and try to win on the day," Westwood said.
"I can't imagine us playing for a draw."
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Weather for Leeds
Sunday 12 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 0 C to 5 C
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Sunny spells
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