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Along with this afternoon's live text, we also have radio coverage available right here on the page.

Just click the Watch & Listen tab to tune into BBC Radio Cumbria live from Brunton Park.

Can't listen? No bother. We will have all the best bits from their commentary right here in text form so you won't miss a beat.

Image source, Opta

Mark Hughes has made four changes to the Blues side which beat Brackley 3-0 in their season finale last Saturday.

Gabe Breeze returns in goal, Morgan Feeney captains the side and Regan Linney and Harvey Macadam are handed starts.

Keeper Archie Mair, Bevis Mugabi, Jack Ellis and Ephraim Yeboah all drop to the bench.

Luke Garrard has named the same Wood XI which overcame Forest Green Rovers 1-0 in extra time in the eliminator on Wednesday night.

Image source, Opta

Adam Lanigan
BBC Sport reporter at Brunton Park

Image source, Adam Lanigan

Cars parked in every available space. Crowds streaming along Warwick Road. The fan zone heaving.

Brunton Park is buzzing before Carlisle's biggest game of the season, make that THE game of the season.

As one wag caustically said: "Where were all these fans when we had 2,500?"

Possibly a defining game for Mark Hughes and how the Blues' campaign is viewed. Get to Wembley and get up equals big success. But go the other way and is the campaign a failure?

Image source, Shutterstock

A veteran of 466 Premier League matches in the dugout, Mark Hughes ended a 16-month period out of the game when he joined Carlisle in February 2025.

The 62-year-old was unable to prevent relegation from League Two when he arrived as the Blues went down for a second successive season.

But the Manchester United and Wales legend stayed at the club as they have rebuilt and regrouped this campaign and an impressive eight-game unbeaten run to finish the season helped them to a comfortable third place and a club-record tally of 95 points leaving them potentially 180 minutes away from a return to the EFL.

"We're in position to do that if we overcome the hurdles in front of us," Hughes told BBC Radio Cumbria.

"That was always the aim at the beginning of the season. We made no bones about that. We raised the expectation with that.

"A lot of people thought that's what we should be aiming for, others thought it may be beyond us in the first year after two poor seasons and two relegations.

"But we're still in the mix, able to achieve what we set out to, so let's see what happens."

Click here for more from Hughes, including what keeps the fire burning inside him.

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Boreham Wood have been on quite a journey over the past decade.

They lost the National League play-off final to Tranmere at Wembley in 2018 and lost to Harrogate in the semi-finals two years later and were edged out at the same stage in extra time by Notts County in 2023.

The following season they were relegated to National League South, leading to boss Luke Garrard leaving his role after nine years, but he returned just a few months later and they bounced back at the first time of asking, beating Maidstone United in the play-off final 12 months ago.

After seeing off Forest Green Rovers on Wednesday night, Garrard told DAZN: "I'm already trying to prep Carlisle. I'll have insomnia so I'll go watch Carlisle.

"We haven't landed here with luck. We know how tough it's going to be [against Carlisle], we're not foolish."

Image source, Shutterstock

Carlisle midfielder Callum Whelan says the Blues are peaking at the right time for the play-offs.

A 3-0 home win over relegated Brackley Town saw Carlisle end the regular season in third with a club-record 95 points, 13 behind champions York and 11 shy of second-placed Rochdale.

The Blues won 11 of their last 16 games and were unbeaten in the final eight, leaving them in good spirits for what is ahead, according to Whelan.

"We're excited for the play-offs," he told BBC Radio Cumbria. "It's been an amazing season. We've had two real tough ones, so to finish on 95 points is a credit to the lads.

"And now the exciting stuff starts.

"Credit to the top two, they've been relentless and won a lot of games but we've just focused on ourselves and had a really strong season - 95 points is an incredible tally and sets up us nicely for a home semi."

Image source, Shutterstock

Boreham Wood boss Luke Garrard has his sights on a double celebration this season, having seen his side lift the National League Cup last month.

Wood fought back from 2-0 down against West Ham Under-21s and won 7-6 on penalties after the game ended in a 2-2 draw.

The first 12 penalties were all converted, but keeper Ted Curd saved West Ham's seventh spot-kick and Charlie O'Connell then won it for the Hertfordshire side.

Garrard said: "To be the first non-league team to lift that trophy is excellent.

"To go 2-0 down against Premier League 21s, who were very productive in the way they played, then turning the game on its head, I'm really proud of the group, really proud of what we're achieving."

Lewis Orford and Josh Landers put the young Hammers on top but Abdul Abdulmalik pulled one back early in the second half after being put through by Zak Brunt.

But time was rapidly running out for the home side - who had a 100% record in this season's competition - when a corner was cleared to Aaron Henry on the edge of the box and he fired home in the third minute of stoppage time to level the scores.

We're at the point of the National League season where 180 minutes can change a club forever.

Since the 2002-03 revamp, not a single team promoted from the National League to League Two has been relegated straight back down the following season.

In fact, of the 43 different clubs promoted in that time, only 18 have dropped back into the National League at all in the subsequent seasons - and two of those came yesterday afternoon, with Harrogate and Barrow suffering relegation from League Two.

And never mind regression, most promoted clubs have actually progressed further up the pyramid.

Of those 43, 24 have played at least a single season in League One, six have gone as high as the Championship and one (Luton) has even played in the Premier League.

It's never been easier to have your say on the issues of the footballing day.

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Can Rochdale recover from their late heartbreak at York eight days ago? Can Mark Hughes lead Carlisle to Wembley in his first full season at the helm? Can Boreham Wood or Scunthorpe spring a surprise and take themselves with 90 minutes of the EFL?

Send us your thoughts and we'll publish the best ones right here throughout the afternoon.

Image source, Opta

Rochdale may have missed out on automatic promotion to the EFL by the barest of margins on the final day against York, but they remain firm favourites to get to League Two via the play-offs, if they can rouse themselves from that disappointment.

Dale finished 24 points clear of this afternoon's visitors Scunthorpe across a 46-match campaign, with a goal difference of +32 on the Iron to boot.

Carlisle were best of the rest, finishing five points clear of Boreham Wood, but Wood took four points off the Blues in the regular season while both teams have gone into the play-offs in scintillating form, and the visitors will be further buoyed by their dramatic eliminator win over Forest Green on Wednesday night.

Image source, Shutterstock

Good afternoon!

Do we have a treat for you today, BOTH National League play-off semi-finals, back-to-back... you lucky people.

Rochdale host Scunthorpe at 15:00 BST with the winner of the lunchtime kick-off between Carlisle and Boreham Wood awaiting the winner in the promotion final at Wembley in seven days' time (15:00 BST, 10 May).

Get yourself settled and we'll bring you up to speed ahead of the clash of the third-placed Blues and fourth-placed Wood...