RIVALRY IS AWOKEN IN DEC’S MIND
DECLAN McMANUS’ season started with sleepless nights – now he’s out to put to bed illinformed talk of a career slipping into obscurity.
The Scot, who came through at Aberdeen, left the SPFL for Wales almost three years ago to rack up European football and honours aplenty.
McManus, 29, has already lifted the Trust Trophy at one Welsh side’s expense in 2019, helping Ross County dump a Connah’s Quay Nomads side whose coaching team included his current boss.
Second time around would bring a slice of history as the first Welsh club to win it, albeit today’s final seemed some way off last August as simply sitting on a toilet or lying down in bed left him riddled with pain.
Groin problems for just over a year left The New Saints frontman feeling only 40 per cent fit for European action last summer before tearing his adductor in what was meant to be his final game before time out.
A six-hour-long surgery pieced him back together in time to make his first appearance in this season’s tourney in TNS’ semi-final se triumph over former fo club Falkirk.
Win No.27 in a row is today’s to aim and he said:
“IIt felt like a long, long time tim I was out – I couldn’t tell te you how many games.
“Watching the boys every ev week, it got tougher and an tougher. Thankfully, the th run of the games we have ha won, the record we’re w on so far, it was made m a wee bit easier because be I knew I was coming co back into a team still st battling on all fronts.
“We have managed to get two trophies over the line but this cup has a wee bit of extra spice and is a wee bit more special for me because I am coming back up to Scotland and I’m in the Welsh side.
“Football is fickle, there will be plenty of Scottish fans out there who were saying when I moved down, ‘Oh, why has he moved down there?’ I can
remember there was a lot of stuff, people saying on Twitter, ‘You’re going down there, you’ll just disappear.’ I knew coming down here, there was a lot of incentive.
“I was joining a big club that has big aspirations in Europe and domestic football. For me, we go all the way and win, it’s one way I can go, ‘Well... worked out not bad.’”
Asked to weigh up the differences between the levels of the Scottish and Welsh leagues, he said: “Us getting to the final shows you, as a club, there’s not much difference.
“We would, I think, hold our own very easily in the Championship and challenge at that level.
“We play European football as well, every game is different and a league campaign is different from a cup.
“But us as a club, the infrastructure we have, we would handle ourselves no problem at that level.
“For us to go and put our stamp on it and TNS to be the first Welsh club to win the trophy is another small incentive, that we can write ourselves into the history book.”
Airdrie would do well to be on guard given his first game back saw him come off the bench to bury a 20-yard free-kick in the top bin with his first touch.
His boss Craig Harrison said: “You work with these players every day, you see what they can do, and Dec does that type of distance a lot in training.
“A lot of times in training I must admit I thought, ‘What you doing?’ ... he is hitting 35, 40-yard free-kicks almost Ronaldo style with a wobble on it. But why not?”