Skipper Richard Naylor is hoping the authorities will investigate events after the penalty shoot-out at Carlisle on Tuesday in depth - and says the scenes must not be repeated.

The United captain had been substituted before the end of normal time, but he came back on to the pitch after the shoot-out to help his team-mates leave the field.

"I'm sure the right people will deal with this properly because they don't tend to let things like this go. It needs looking into," said Naylor.

"If our fans had done the same then the story would be everywhere because they've got a reputation and people like to knock them, but this shouldn't be treated any differently. It's completely out of order.

UNITED'S CALL FOR ACTION

"We're all annoyed. I understand why the fans invaded the pitch and why they wanted to celebrate but they've overstepped the mark.

"I'm not happy with the way it was handled. The stewards should have done far more to get our lads off the field and to keep Carlisle's supporters away from us.

"I don't think anyone could say that they were caught off-guard. The stewards should have known there was going to be an invasion because that's what fans do when they celebrate a result like this. But there are ways of celebrating and they crossed the line.

"I've seen the odd pitch invasion here and there and it's standard procedure to get off sharpish. You leave the opposition to get on with it and most supporters are respectful enough to celebrate without hassling players who are just trying to leave the field.

"Something like this creates a volatile situation and if any of us react then it'll be blown out of proportion. You'd be talking charges, bad headlines and all sorts, and it's asking quite a lot of players to get treated like we did and look the other way. The lads did well to control themselves.

"Shane got bumped into a few times and was obviously raging but I managed to get to him and get him off the field. The stewards and the police didn't seem to want to get involved. They stood by the tunnel doing nothing. What good's that?"