I won promotion at Wembley and was told I was losing my job the next morning – I ended up on LinkedIn looking for a club

MK DONS keeper Michael Kelly was told he was being released by Carlisle just ONE DAY after they were promoted to League One.

The Irish shot-stopper, 27, only played in the EFL Trophy last season as he watched all of the fourth-tier side’s league matches from the bench.

But he was still a part of the squad that beat Stockport on penalties at Wembley to clinch promotion.

Yet the following morning, manager Paul Simpson met him at the team hotel to inform him that his contract was not being renewed beyond the summer.

Speaking to , he recalled: “He [Simpson] said it wasn’t an easy subject and that he wasn’t going to keep me.

“I was shocked. The night before was the best of my life. Getting promoted on the steps of Wembley, it’s what you dream of as a kid. Now you’re trying to process what to do next.”

Kelly then spent three months without a club, before MK Dons picked him up in September.

He has started eight games this season, four of which have come in League Two where the club occupy a play-off place.

But prior to penning a deal, he admits he was even reduced to going on LinkedIn to try and search for a club.

He added: “I kept wondering, when am I going to get a phone call? I’ve just got promoted. I should look good. But you have to wait. The toughest part is seeing other players get the call.

“My girlfriend and family were on top of me the whole time asking me to ring this person, message this guy, go onto Linkedin and look at this person.

“You have got to hold yourself accountable.

“You can run all you want and give all you want but personally being around a group, with the guys, they’re the hardest moments to replicate. I don’t mind going for runs but it’s very, very difficult to keep going.

“You can have a bad day, which can spiral into two or three bad days when you wonder, why am I bothering? It’s about just getting out there and doing something.”