Carlisle United star Luke Armstrong has revealed that he was left with a horrific facial injury after this weekend’s action. During his side’s clash with Woking FC, the forward was kicked in the face when looking to nod home from close range in the second half.

Armstrong spent two years with Carlisle previously and returned to the recently-relegated outfit on loan from Motherwell over the summer, and he marked his homecoming with a well-taken goal in the 57th minute.

Just moments later, the 29-year-old looked set to bag his brace when the goal was at his mercy after a shot had rebounded into his direction. But as Armstrong stooped down to head into an empty net, Woking goalkeeper Craig Ross – who was down on his back at the time – managed to get a toe to the ball and force the attempt over the crossbar.

However, during the incident, Ross’ studs impacted into Armstrong’s face, leaving him with some nasty injuries just a week into the new National League campaign. Ross went unpunished having initially made contact with the ball.

Armstrong was then replaced by Georgie Kelly, with Carlisle then doubling their lead just under 10 minutes later when Ethan Robson whipped a fine free-kick beyond Ross to kickstart the Blues’ campaign in style.

Carlisle then revealed Armstrong had been named their ‘Player of the Match’ on X, sharing a picture of their forward nursing some major facial bruising as a result of the collision. Their post read: “Battered and bruised, here’s your Player of the Match from today’s win over Woking FC. Well played, Luke!”

Manager Mark Hughes, formerly of Stoke and Manchester City, will certainly be pleased with how Armstrong has hit the ground running upon his return to Brunton Park. Speaking after the win, the Welshman said: “He's (Luke) been playing exceptionally well since he's come back into the fold. I've been really impressed with his work in pre-season and obviously on the training field. You know what you're going to get from Luke.

“He works absolutely to his maximum and I'm pleased for him because he's had a tough time but I think people can see the qualities that he has and how we're going to utilise him better maybe than he has been in the past. It's a good group at the moment and that's going to be important moving forward."