Carlisle United chief executive Nigel Clibbens has defended the club over the release clause that saw Charlie Wyke make a cut-price departure last season.

The striker's sale to Bradford in January for a deal, understood to be worth £250,000, has been cited by manager Keith Curle as one of the most damaging moments of Carlisle's campaign.

Curle has since said he would prefer similar clauses to be removed from players' contracts.

The departure of Wyke was also in contrast to other moves from League Two, including Grimsby's sale of Omar Bogle to Wigan for more than £1 million.

Clibbens, though, insists Carlisle would not have been able to sign ex-Middlesbrough man Wyke in the first place had they not agreed to the clause.

He said that, while he would always be "reluctant" to accept such clauses, there are times when it is better to do the deal rather than miss out on the player.

Clibbens said: "It's in the club's power to say no to any term that's put forward by a player, whether wages or a get-out clause - but a judgement has to be made if that player says he won't come unless he gets the clause.

"You have to be prepared to turn away the player, but then you don't get any benefit at all.

"That becomes a judgement call for the manager, to turn away a player who could make a contribution.

"Are you better to have a contribution in the short term and some upside down the line, or nothing?"

"We could have a policy that says we're never having those [clauses] in, but you're likely then to lose the player, because there will always be another club who will put that in," Clibbens added.

"I've been reluctant to include those clauses in any deals I've done. But I wasn't faced with someone who said, 'I'll only come if I can have a get-out clause.'

"When you've got a clause and it's triggered, you don't feel happy about it. Nobody was happy about it [with the Wyke deal].

"But I've discussed it internally with people in the club and the view was, if we hadn't gone into that clause at the time that we did, he would not have signed.

"The club benefited to the tune of the money we got, we had goals and performances from Charlie, and so both parties benefited along the way.

"That's a better outcome than him never having been here and gone somewhere else."

Asked if United should in future look to cash in to a greater extent, as Grimsby did with Bogle, Clibbens added: "One thing I'm strong on is we focus on what we have and don't cast envious eyes.

"There's always going to be other clubs who've got something you haven't. We'll focus on what we've got and make the most of them."