Salford boss Karl Robinson was disappointed as his side missed the chance to secure a League Two play-off spot in their 2-2 draw with already-relegated Carlisle.
The Ammies came into the final day of the season knowing that a win would be enough to seal a spot in the play-offs and keep their League One dream alive, but as soon as they went 2-0 down to a double salvo from Stephen Wearne and Matty Dennis, the task went up a notch.
They managed to get themselves level thanks to strikes from Cole Stockton and Hakeeb Adelakun, but despite having plenty of goalscoring opportunities, they couldn’t find the all-important third.
Robinson said: “It’s a feeling of disappointment. I think from the midst of a relegation fight last season to finish one place outside the play-offs, from an outside perspective, would look like you have had a half-decent season.
“Before the game there was a problem on the motorway, we got here 50 minutes before kick-off and our best player of the season goes down after 10 minutes and our left-back comes off at half-time with a hamstring injury.”
Despite their lowly status, Carlisle made it difficult for Salford, particularly in the first half, but the visitors responded well in the second half.
“I thought the mentality and how they responded was excellent, but, yeah, it hurt. In this industry you take it hard, we don’t just turn up and go home and don’t worry about it. That will be a dagger in my heart for a long, long time,” Robinson added.
Carlisle, whose relegation was confirmed last week at Cheltenham, will now face tough questions off the pitch over the summer as they prepare for a first season outside the EFL for two decades.
One of those will be about who leads them in the National League, with speculation mounting over Mark Hughes’ future and the Welshman commented on his future after the game.
“We’ll wait and see, I think everyone has to be a little bit patient,” said Hughes. “I’ve said many times the response from the fans since I’ve come in has been huge. Probably undeserved at times but they’ve certainly made their feelings known today.”
Hughes admitted that the response from Carlisle’s fans, who still came out in their thousands despite relegation already being confirmed, was something that shocked him.
“I’ve never really experienced anything like that,” he added. “I haven’t been involved in too many relegation issues but to actually get relegated and seven days later get cheered off the pitch, that’s not normal. It’s really special, a thing that we all felt today.”
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