Carlisle look in better shape than Spireites

The 2016-17 campaign was an up-and-down affair for Carlisle, who lost just once in the league before the turn of the year and looked in decent shape for automatic promotion.

The sale of top scorer Charlie Wyke to Bradford in January heralded a slump in form that saw Keith Curle's men fail to score in seven consecutive games in February and March, losing six of them.

It is testament to Curle's powers of motivation that the Cumbrians rallied to sneak into the playoffs although their defensive frailties were exposed yet again in a 6-5 aggregate defeat to Exeter in the semi-finals.