ROOF RAISER Mcmillan out to burst through another glass ceiling and has his eye on European record
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FAI Cup final hero David Mcmilan is out to rewrite the history books when Dundalk face Arsenal tonight.
Scorer of nine goals in his last seven games, he became only the third player to score a hat- trick in the Cup final as the Lilywhites came from behind to beat Shamrock Rovers on Sunday.
And back at Aviva Stadium this evening, one goal will be enough for Mcmillan to become the league’s alltime record scorer in European c o m p e t i - tion.
A s i t stands, the 3 1 - y e a r - old is level with Bohemians l ege n d G l e n Crowe on 11 goals but cool s h a r p - shooter McMillan has sole ownership i n his sights.
“The last few days have probably been some of the most enjoyable in my career and to score a hat- trick in a final i s a great thing,” he said.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to have won a very important final having lost the league. You don’t want to go out and l ose a cup f i nal a s wel l . The European g o a l s w e r e
THROUGH THE MILL David Mcmillan and Dane Massey rise highest in a Lilies training session
yesterday something built on the 2016 group stage run and this year I ’ve been fortunate to get a couple as well.
“It ’s not s omething t hat has played on my mind, but if I could nick a goal tonight it would be amazing to top that chart.”
Mcmillan’s season hasn’t always been one of headline grabbing as he struggled with niggles on his return from St Johnstone in the summer.
But facing the out- of- sorts Gunners, he admits his confidence is sky high on the back of his current purple patch with Pat Hoban sidelined.
Mcmillan – who is out of contract af t er t onight ’s game – added: “Confidence helps as a striker as you’re less likely to snatch at things. “A lot of it is instinct, hopefully if something falls in the box, I can stick it away. It would be a great way to finish the season. But this is not a game where you’d be expecting to get a hatful of chances. You just hope you get one and stick it away.
“If it does come against a team like Arsenal that would be amazing but it’s not in the back of my mind, I just want to enjoy the game.”
But al t hough Mikel Ar t et a’s charges have dropped i nto the bottom six of the Premier League, t hey have al ready t opped thi s Europa League group.
And Liverpool fan Mcmillan i s under no illusions just how difficult it’s going to be for Dundalk to bank some points.
“They ’re at a totally dif ferent level,” he said. “You can sit at home and be critical of the players.
“But then you go out and play them and all of a sudden you see that these guys are pretty amazing.
“They’d be happier if they were further u p t h e P r e m i e r L e a g u e b u t t h a t doesn’t make a difference to us, we’re still p l a y i n g A r s e n a l , a n unbelievable team.”
And Mcmillan added: “We’re disappointed we’ve not picked up any points.
“The Vienna game is one that sticks in my mind, to get back to 2- 2 so late on. Overall we’ve been a shade short. But it’s been a good learning curve. We’re hoping to build on it and tr y to repeat the s u c c e s s o f t h i s year.”