Carlisle United may have long departed the FA Cup - but one of their players is still very much involved in it.

Jayden Harris and his loan club Eastleigh enjoyed a day to remember as they defeated Reading in the second round.

Midfielder Harris was a second-half substitute as the National League side got the better of their League One visitors with a 2-1 second round win.

It booked the Hampshire club a third round tie at either Newport County or Barnet.

The televised tie went Eastleigh's way in what proved Harris's eighth appearance for the club since he made his loan move in October.

Harris came off the bench in the 74th minute at a time Eastleigh led through Paul McCallum's first-half goal, which came soon after Reading fans disrupted the game with tennis balls and blue flares in protest at owner Dai Yongge.

Femi Azeez looked to have earned Reading a replay with an 86th-minute leveller.

News and Star: Harris, second left, is on loan with the Spitfires until mid-JanuaryHarris, second left, is on loan with the Spitfires until mid-January (Image: PA)

But McCallum fired a dramatic last-minute winner at Silverlake to send Richard Hill's side through.

It meant Harris and his team-mates did what his parent club couldn't, and prevail against a Reading side who thrashed the Blues 5-1 in the league last week.

The 24-year-old is on loan with the Spitfires until the middle of January.

United manager Paul Simpson recently confirmed he would not be recalling Harris before then despite a glut of injuries in the Carlisle squad.

Simpson feels Harris would not be a serious first-team contender and prefers the player to get regular football with Eastleigh in this spell.

The Blues boss told the News & Star: "I’m happy for him to stay out.

“I made a decision that he needed to go and have a change of scenery to try and get a run of games.

"I’m going to leave him there. I don’t see Jayden coming into our group at the moment, so it would be a case of bringing him in and sticking him on the bench – at this moment in time I don’t see the need to do that.”