Mark Hughes hails Georgie Kelly impact after Tooban man hits brace for Carlisle

Mark Hughes praised the impact of Georgie Kelly after the Tooban man scored twice for Carlisle United on Saturday.

Kelly scored his first two Carlisle goals in a 3-2 win over Newport County at Brunton Park.

The 28-year-old, who was named the Man of the Match, inspired a comeback after Newport led 2-0 thanks to goals by Kieron Evans and Bobby Kamwa.

Kelly, who moved to Carlisle from Rotherham last January, has had some injury woes and Saturday represented his first 90 minutes in an age.

Kelly netted his first in the 33rd minute, firing to the far corner after taking a pass from Stephen Wearne.

On the hour, Kelly tapped home in a scramble to level the game and Aaron Hayden bagged a late winner to boost Carlisle’s hopes of avoiding relegation from League Two.

They are, however, eight points from safety with five games to go.

Manchester United legend Hughes took over as Carlisle boss in January and hailed Kelly.

“Well that's his first 90 minutes for a long, long, long time,” Hughes said. “I was expecting that at some point he would have emptied his tanks and I would have had to take him off but then I was reminded he's centre forward and he's scored two goals and you don’t take that off. 

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“Psychologically for him just to break that barrier and play 90 minutes it's really important for him.”