Dougie Freedman was quick to hail Leeds United's fighting spirit in the wake of the Monday's Play-Off semi-final first leg clash with Carlisle United.

The on-loan striker bagged his sixth goal for the club when he struck in the sixth minute of stoppage time to reduce the arrears to 2-1.

Dougie's goal brought Elland Road to its feet with delight - and Leeds will head for Cumbria for Thursday's second leg with added belief.

"It turned the tie on its head and at 2-1 gives us a lifeline," Freedman told LUTV.

"We do finish very strongly. We've shown that in the last eight or nine games we've a never say die attitude.

"Having said that, I thought we performed well throughout, but it's that attitude that has kept us in it.

"Credit to Carlisle, they played well, passed it, and gave us a good game. It's 2-1 though and it's game on.

"It'll be an atmosphere where they expect to be favourites to go to Wembley. We'll go a goal behind, try and attack and hopefully win the game."

The late goal changed the outlook of the tie in the final seconds. With a 2-0 lead, Carlisle will have been confident going into the second leg, but with away goals not counting double in the Play-Offs, John Ward's men have only the slenderest of advantages.

"The whole atmosphere changed inside the ground with the goal," added Freedman. "It showed the belief we have, and the manager said the attitude was there again.

"I enjoyed it on Monday. You want to play in front of big crowds in big games and there's no game bigger than Thursday night."

You can see highlights plus more from Dougie and Gary Mac on LUTV...