The Sky Bet League Two outfit were in dreamland when Fulham loanee Aaron Loupalo-Bi broke the deadlock on 21 minutes against a strong Arsenal side.

Mikel Arteta rang the changes at the break which paid dividends five minutes in as Viktor Gyökeres notched his first goal of the season, but the hosts managed to hold firm, aided by Max Dowman’s late red card.

After three perfect penalties apiece, Jay Lynch denied Bruno Guimarães with a sublime stop which allowed Conor Haughey to etch his name into Cod Army folklore and he did just that, emphatically firing into the top corner.

Becoming the first League Two team to reach the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup since Bradford City in 2012, the Lancashire-based outfit pulled off one of the tournament’s biggest shocks against the reigning Premier League champions.

Inspiring the town

With a population of just over 25,000, Fleetwood’s remarkable achievement is all the more impressive given their lowly 18th-place position in the League Two table.

Lawlor was keen to emphasise his pride in putting them on the map.

“It won’t sink in to be honest with you,” the 38-year-old admitted.

“I’ve got no words for it - the champions of England have come to Fleetwood and we have managed to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup.

“It’s very difficult to comprehend - the hard work that they put in and to get that result, it was amazing.

“That feeling tonight, if you could bottle it and sell it, you would be a multi-millionaire.

“The eyes of the world were on the game - Arsenal are a worldwide organisation so we’ve managed to do something which will hopefully make the town proud.

“The number of people who came onto the pitch was frightening, I think I knew all 5,000 of them, so I was so proud for them as well!”

Stepping up in the big moments

To put the scale of their achievement into perspective, the Gunners’ squad value is more than 485x that of Fleetwood, with £1.16 billion massively outweighing the £2.34 million of Lawlor’s side.

However, those numbers were inconsequential as Lynch, a free signing from Rochdale four years ago, saved the fourth spot kick before academy graduate Haughey stepped up to net the decisive penalty.

Lawlor took particular pride in the youngster’s display having played a key role in bringing him to Highbury Stadium.

“It’s unbelievable to think we had Conor Haughey stepping up for the fifth penalty and then Lynchy doing what he did,” the ex-Waterford boss said.

“He’s never let me down and that save is world-class to get us to penalties.

“Everybody had to play their game today and have their moment and for Conor to show the confidence, and he told me after he was absolutely bricking it.

“He’s come through our academy and I’ve worked with him since he was 15 and I was part of the pitch for him to sign so that is extra pleasing for me.”

All eyes on tonight’s draw

Fleetwood have already produced two giant-killings, knocking Sheffield United out in the previous round, and they will have to emulate that to progress in the next round.

They are the lowest-ranked side with only themselves and Bradford as the remaining Football League teams in the tournament, but Lawlor admits his focus is fully on the visit of Bristol Rovers this weekend.

“I have got no preference in the slightest,” he jokingly said.

“That sentence alone (that they are in the quarter-finals) is crazy to think but we’re going to dumb it down a little bit - we’ve got a big game on Saturday at home and I want to win that game.

“I would absolutely love to make an amazing night into an amazing week.”