Goalscorer takes heart from team’s solid away form

GIVEN he is in the form of his life at present, David McMillan doesn’t want to dwell too much on the past.

However, even he must manage a wry smile at the similarities of his performances in the Champions League both this year and last.

Twelve months ago the striker scored a goal for Dundalk in their second qualifying round first-leg tie against BATE Borisov, having missed a virtually open goal earlier in the game.

History repeated itself last Wednesday against FH Hafnardjordur when the 27-year-old slotted home what was his seventh goal in three matches in the 66th minute, having blazed over from close range after a Daryl Horgan free was palmed into his path by goalkeeper Gunnar Nielsen a minute before the break.

While the 1-1 draw this time around is, in theory, better than the 2-1 defeat away from home last year, McMillan doesn’t want to suffer another year of what-ifs and mighthave-beens.

That miss in Barysaw no doubt played on his mind at least a couple of times afterwards, while he also revealed last year his regret at not putting away Dundalk’s one big chance in the second leg against BATE at Oriel Park.

Given that game finished 0-0, a goal would have been enough to see the Lilywhites through.

A year on McMillan is determined to be the difference in claiming a result in Iceland on Wednesday which would arguably be the biggest in the club’s history given the €1.2 million prize at stake.

And despite the disappointment of letting the lead he had given them slip when Steven Lennon was presented with the chance to equalise 13 minutes from the end last week, McMillan is confident Dundalk have what it takes to advance to the third qualifying round.

‘I think the overriding emotion is disappointment,’ McMillan said after the draw at Oriel Park last week.

‘It was probably a missed opportunity a little bit. We were 1-0 up and we felt comfortable enough with that scoreline, so it was a bit of a sucker punch to concede and it leaves us with a bit of work to do next week, but I’m still confident we can go and do it.

‘I think we were the better team and that will give us confidence going there. Our away form all year has been very, very good. We’ve scored a lot of goals away from home and we’ll have to do that again.

‘We know the task ahead of us now and hopefully we can go and do it,’ said the former UCD man.

McMillan knows Steven Lennon’s equaliser puts all the pressure on Dundalk heading to Iceland, but he is confident his side can win in Hafnarfjordur.

‘Hopefully the grass pitch will suit us over there,’ he said.

‘Like I say, our away form has been really good and we’ve scored a lot more goals away from home than we have here, so we’ll be confident going out there.

‘We know we need to score at a minimum to go through and we need to win the game, but I believe we can do that.’

The in-form striker praised Patrick McEleney for the ball which led to his 66th-minute goal but admitted FH’s equaliser had taken much of the shine off it.

‘It was a good ball in from Patrick McEleney. He has stuck it on a plate for me really and I just had to concentrate because I had a lot of time to look at it and thankfully I’ve caught it nicely and it has gone into the corner.

‘Obviously I’ve had a good chance in the first half that I’ve put over, so it makes up for that a litttle bit. I was pleased obviously to find the net but disappointed we haven’t won.’

Disappointed, yes, but the match is far from over and given his form at present McMillan will no doubt get his chance again to make his mark on this tie.

If he does then the chance to avenge those misses against BATE Borisov could be just around the corner.