Carlisle United head coach Mark Hughes says he's hopeful of remaining in his role in the National League.

Following a 3-2 defeat away at Cheltenham Town last weekend, the club were relegated from League Two, calling time on their 20-year stay in the English Football League with one game remaining.

The Blues take on Salford City, who are fighting for a play-off spot, at Brunton Park on Saturday 3 May 2025.

Talking about his future beyond the League Two campaign, Mark Hughes said: "We haven't achieved and I haven't achieved what I set out to do. But I've really enjoyed my time here, I've had fantastic support from everybody in Carlisle."

"Getting back on the touchline and having the opportunity to manage teams through difficult games and circumstances - I've said before - that's what really gets me going when I'm out of the game.

"Let's see what happens. If there's a will on all sides to do it, then it'll happen."

Since his arrival on 6 February, former Manchester City boss Hughes has won five of his 17 matches in charge. The Blues currently have 41 points and will finish 23rd in the League Two table.

Reflecting six days on from relegation, the Welshman said: "It was important to allow the guys to have a bit of time and space to come to terms with that. But they came in yesterday - they're in good hearts - and we're looking to finish the season off in the right manner.

"This week has been difficult. There's lots of conversations going on, not only with me, but also with players to help get an understanding of what went wrong this year. Can we learn from it? Clearly mistakes were made.

"It's about making sure that those things don't occur moving forward. Those conversations involve myself but they involve other people as well.

"I think it's right and proper that the owners look at all the elements of a season that's disappointed everybody."

Carlisle United announced earlier this week that Rob Clarkson left his role as Sporting Director - only six months on from his appointment.

With the reality of National League football sinking in, Mark Hughes says he only wants players "that want to be here" moving forward. He said: "Naturally there's a churn in terms of players. Sometimes there's more churn than previous years.

"We've still got a lot of players contracted and it's a decent number, there's positives and negatives to that.

"We're not talking ten or 15 players going out and the same coming in to replace - that's a good thing.

"Maybe it's time for some players to move on, that happens naturally at the end of every year. The important thing is to make sure the balance of the squad is good.

"The numbers will be different I would suggest next year. We carry a lot of players and the number is too big."

The list of players retained or released from the club is expected to be announced in the next week.