Carlisle United are set to plead guilty to their FA misconduct charge over the Bradford City pitch invasion.

Chief executive Nigel Clibbens said the Blues have little choice but to plead guilty.

The Blues were charged by the Football Association with “crowd control misconduct” following the scenes after May’s play-off semi-final second leg.

A pitch invasion by United fans followed the dramatic victory which took Carlisle to Wembley.

The jubilant scenes now look likely to land the Cumbrians with a fine.

Asked at Thursday’s London Branch supporters’ forum about the potential for punishment over fan behaviour incidents, Clibbens said: “All kinds of sanctions are open to the FA.

“We got an extension in relation to the charge for the pitch invasion in the play-off semi.

“Our submission will be going in either [Friday] or Monday on that charge.

“It’s very strict liability – if fans go on the pitch, you breach the rules, so we’ll be pleading guilty and making mitigations.

“What it means [in terms of likely punishment] we don’t know.”

Port Vale were fined £15,000 over a pitch invasion in a play-off semi-final against Swindon Town the previous year.

United, who were recently fined £7,500 over racist chanting at a previous home game against Bradford, could also now be under the microscope again after a firework was let off in the Warwick Road End at last Saturday’s game against Leyton Orient.

Clibbens added: “We had the FA at our game on Saturday, looking at the steps we’ve taken to deal with the charge when we were fined £7,500 recently.

“I’m showing them around, saying, ‘Look at all this good work, all this messaging, etc – then we have other incidents to deal with’.”

The director stressed the seriousness of such incidents and the damage they can do to the club.

United boss Paul Simpson also this week spoke of his disappointment at the latest incidents at Brunton Park.

Both Clibbens and Simpson have also stressed that the majority of fans are backing the team superbly, and have praised the young supporters who have done brilliant work in revitalising the Warwick Road End in recent times.

Clibbens said the club will continue to encourage such fans in their efforts.