Paul Simpson is “gutted” for Ben Barclay after the on-loan Stockport defender scored the goal that secured Carlisle’s 3-2 aggregate Sky Bet League Two play-off semi-final win over Bradford.
Barclay cannot play against his parent club who earlier in the day defeated Salford on penalties to reach Wembley themselves.
Barclay headed home after Bradford threatened to send the tie to penalties as 37-year-old Matt Derbyshire brought the teams level on aggregate early in the second half of extra time.
Brad Halliday’s own goal after 21 minutes and Callum Guy’s strike in the first period of extra time gave the Cumbrians the advantage after losing the first leg at Valley Parade 1-0.
“Ben got the goal but unfortunately can’t play,” confirmed otherwise jubilant boss Simpson. “It is one of those nightmare scenarios.
“When he has been fit this year Ben has been brilliant for us. I am sure he will be coming along for the trip.
“Even though he can’t be involved in the game he will be a big part of our training programme.
“We knew that before and it was always a gamble. I am sure he was desperate for it to be Salford.”
On Carlisle’s first trip to Wembley since 2011 Simpson, who masterminded United’s last promotion, added: “We are not going there to make up the numbers.
“I had so much belief in the group we had enough to get over the line.
“They produced a performance to get us a result against a good side.
“I am sweating buckets because I feel like I have gone through the mill myself.”
Bradford were always on the back foot when Halliday, under pressure from JK Gordon, put through his own net after 21 minutes.
They did hit the post shortly after but League Two’s top marksman Andy Cook had little opportunity to add to his 31-goal total.
“It wasn’t what we hoped for,” said Bantams boss Mark Hughes. “.Clearly we wanted to get to the last game of the season.
“We have played well enough this season to deserve that.
“We have looked back on the goals and clearly they are all bad goals. But every goal is a bad goal and we could have done better in certain situations.
“I am disappointed with the last one especially. We had enough players around the lad who got the header.
“It has been an exceptional season in terms of where we were last year. We should not overlook that point.
“We have produced some great moments but other moments have hurt us and not allowed us to finish the season how we wanted.
“We are a different club now and we can use this disappointment next season. We came up short this season but next year we won’t.”
Cabal pleased to repay Motta's faith after victorious Juventus return
Juventus left-back Juan Cabal was pleased to repay the faith of coach Thiago Motta after returning from injury to star in their 1-0 win over Lazio.
Cabal joined from Verona in July for €11million but has battled a niggling hamstring issue at the start of his Bianconeri career, missing the last six weeks.
He returned to face Lazio on Saturday, with his cross forcing an own goal from Mario Gila as Juventus avoided a fifth draw in the space of six games.
After the match, the Colombia international revealed Lazio had shown an interest in him previously, but said he only ever had eyes for Juve.
"Lazio looked for me before, but I was only thinking about Juve. I wanted to play for Juve since I was a kid and now I am here," Cabal told reporters.
"We all know Juve's history. We have to give our lives for Juve.
"The coach saw something different and put me out, but he has faith in me. He put me on the pitch at the right time.
"It is difficult not to play for so long. But we must always be ready. I work all week to play even one minute,"
Saturday's win took unbeaten Juventus to 16 points from eight matches, level on points with leaders Napoli, who possess a game in hand.
"The important thing is to try to win every game. We want to be champions, but I can't tell you now that we will win the championship," Cabal said.
Al-Ittihad 3-1 Al-Qadsiah: Diaby and Benzema inspire hosts
Al-Ittihad cut the gap on Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal back to three points after Saturday's 3-1 victory over Al-Qadsiah.
Karim Benzema needed just seven minutes to open the scoring, though Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang soon restored parity with a 20th-minute finish of his own.
Moussa Diaby created Benzema's opener and found the net himself just past the hour, edging the hosts back into the lead after linking up with Houssem Aouar.
Substitute Mario Mitaj made sure of the victory nine minutes from time, helping Al-Ittihad to their sixth win in seven league games to start their campaign.
Data Debrief: Dazzling Diaby
Diaby has provided assists in his last five league matches (eight in total), matching the competition-leading streaks by Mishari Al-Thamali, with Al-Faisaly in 2014, and Carlos Villanueva for Al-Ittihad in 2017.
The former Aston Villa winger's eight assists are also the most in the first seven rounds of a season in Saudi Arabia's top-flight, marking history for Diaby.
His efforts helped Al-Ittihad to their fourth home win in seven league games to start a season, only managing to achieve this feat in the 2014-15 campaign, when they ended the term second.
Tale of two penalties as Ronaldo fires Al-Nassr to victory over Al-Shabab
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a 97th-minute penalty as Al-Nassr clinched a 2-1 victory at Al-Shabab in the Saudi Pro League, with the hosts missing a spot-kick of their own 12 minutes into stoppage time.
Ronaldo held his nerve from 12 yards after Robert Renan needlessly fouled Abdulrahman Ghareeb, sending Kim Seung-Gyu the wrong way to score his sixth goal of the season.
Al-Nassr had earlier gone ahead through Aymeric Laporte in the 69th minute, only for substitute Ali Alhassan to slice a clearance into his own net in the 90th minute.
Ronaldo's penalty was not the end of the drama, though, as Mohamed Simakan was penalised for a stamp on Nader Al-Sharari inside the area, receiving his second yellow card and handing Al-Shabab a glorious chance to level.
However, Abderrazak Hamdallah crashed his kick against the woodwork, handing Al-Nassr their fifth win of the campaign and taking them to 17 points.
They remain four points adrift of the summit, though, with champions Al-Hilal remaining perfect with a 3-0 rout of Al-Fayha.
Marcos Leonardo, Salem Al Dawsari and substitute Mohammed Al Qahtani were on target for Al-Hilal, who are now unbeaten in 43 league games since a 2-0 defeat at Al-Adalah in May 2023.
In Friday's other game, Al-Ahli trounced Al-Khaleej 3-0 to go fifth in the standings, with Ivan Toney scoring with a powerful left-footed volley after assisting Feras Al Brikan's opener. Centre-back Merih Demiral scored the visitors' third.
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