McMillan: the bigger the stage, the better
The finest football side in the country will get the chance to showcase their talents on the biggest stage of them all on Sunday when Dundalk go to the Aviva Stadium looking to complete the league and cup double.
Ticket sales indicate that a crowd of over 20,000 will be in place for the much anticipated, heavyweight clash with Cork City.
For some players, that would be enough to get the butterflies going, however Lilywhites striker David McMillan is hoping that the ground is packed to the rafters, pointing to Dundalk’s stirring European performances in Croatia and Belarus as examples of how this side seems to revel in the spotlight.
“It would be great if we could get 30,000 into the stadium on Sunday because it would only add to the occasion,” he said.
“Big crowds don’t faze us and we’ve shown that in Europe where we have stood up well in big stadiums. We won against Hajduk in Croatia and although we lost in Belarus against BATE in July we put on a great show.
“The mentality of the players we have is set for the big stage. The likes of Richie Towell, Andy Boyle, they are so composed it doesn’t really matter where they play. The size of the crowd won’t affect us. In fact, the more that’s there, the better.”
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McMillan’s goal against Cork City in the penultimate game of the season took his tally to 13 goals in all competitions. However, competition for places is so strong at Oriel Park that the 24-year-old knows he is still not guaranteed to start Sunday’s game.
The arrival of McMillan’s good friend, Ciaran Kilduff, has afforded Stephen Kenny the luxury of rotating his strikers but even though one of them will be left kicking their heels on the bench, McMillan said there would no animosity in the dressing room.
“I haven’t been involved in too many of the FAI Cup games since Ciaran came in. He played in the quarter-final and the semi-final so we’re both pushing to see who can get the nod for Sunday.
“One of us will be disappointed but as a striker here you know you’ll get minutes on the pitch. Even if you don’t start you could come on and get the winner so you have to remain focussed.
“As Stephen said to us, there’s not just a fight to get into the team, there’s a fight to even get a place on the bench. Everybody wants to play and be involved but we’ve won everything so far as a team and that’s hopefully what will happen on Sunday.”
For McMillan, the cup final brings a fantastic season to a thrilling end, a stark contrast to 2014’s grand finale where an ankle injury saw him confined to the sidelines.
“It’s a big change from last year alright,” he smiled. “It was hard to sit and watch the Cork game from the stand and it was even harder with the celebrations afterwards because I had to be careful and make sure I didn’t hurt myself. I’ve been involved so much more this year so it means that little bit extra.”
And what better a way to finish up than to follow the legendary double winning Dundalk sides of 1979 and 1988 into the history books.
“We’ve spoken about it and we’ve said that we shouldn’t head away at the end of the season being too hard on ourselves if we don’t win the cup but the mentality of this group is that it will leave a bad taste if we don’t do the double.“
