CONFERENCE: Carlisle ready to go back to Brunton

Carlisle United are scheduled to play their first home game at their Brunton Park ground for more than a month on Saturday, after the devastating floods that engulfed the stadium at the beginning of the year.

It is not uncommon for several games to be called off due to waterlogged pitches at this time of year, but The Cumbrians' playing surface was submerged beneath eight feet of water, while the dressing rooms, gym and club offices were badly damaged.

The promotion-chasing side have only played two Conference games since the flooding, both away from home, and have won both their FA Trophy matches on neutral grounds.

A huge clean-up operation has been undertaken at Brunton Park in the last few weeks, and the stadium is now ready to welcome the team and the fans back for the game against Gravesend & Northfleet on Saturday - providing it passes the final health and safety checks.

United's player-manager Paul Simpson told BBC Sport: "Everybody in Carlisle has been through a lot in the last six weeks and hopefully this will give everybody a lift at the weekend.

"There's a lot of work gone in to get the club back into the ground from (owner) Fred Story and his men and the local community and it looks very promising. Everybody has been doing their bit and there is a good spirit about the place.

"If there has been a positive to come out of the flood it's that Fred Story is doubly determined to make the club a success."

The main ambition is promotion back to the Football League, following the club's relegation last season, and though a title challenge now seems beyond them - with leaders Barnet 17 points clear - Simpson is confident about his side's chances of an immediate return to league football and is raring to get back to business at Brunton.

He added: "It's been disruptive to us and it's been hard just from an organisational point of view. But we have still managed to train in different places, the insurance has taken care of a lot of things and hopefully we can get it out of our system.

"It's not the end of the world and we have come through it. The ground looks in good shape and the pitch has had a break. Hopefully we are back there now and we should have great support on Saturday.

"We have got to start winning our home games again and if we get on a run I still believe there are plenty of games left to achieve something this year. We know it will be difficult and the first aim is to make sure we get in the play-offs. After that, we've got to make sure we win our games and see what happens to Barnet.

"We showed last weekend (in the FA Trophy - beating Barnet 4-1) that they have flaws in their squad and I'd like to think we can put pressure on them."