Gary knows all about Wembley, but nothing about Hampden – yet
Gary Dicker has played at Wembley and now he’d love to do the double by making it to Hampden.
But Kilmarnock’s captain admits that Premiership survival is the main prize in his sights this season.
Winning tomorrow night’s Scottish Cup clash with St Mirren would send the Ayrshire outfit to the national stadium for a semi-final.
Dicker will be doing all he can to make that happen but reckons there’s no pressure on his team.
They have enough stress with battling to avoid finishing in either of the relegation places.
The Irishman said: “The cup’s a good distraction and it’s a bit of free hit because it’s all about staying in the league for us.
“Over the years we’ve been a bit unlucky at this stage in the Scottish Cup.
“We’ve had some crazy games, some of which we should probably have won.
“I did OK in the FA Cup with Brighton, we beat Newcastle a couple of times.
“We also got beaten by Arsenal one year in a decent game. It’s a bit different down there with the big boys.
“The Scottish Cup is bigger up here, it still holds good value. I don’t think the FA Cup does anymore.
“Up here, it’s still one of the main things teams want to do well in.
“You don’t see managers resting players. In fact, it’s the opposite in Scotland.
“They see it as a great chance to win something and we’re like every other club.”
Dicker, 34, played at Wembley with Stockport County when they won the League Two play-off Final 13 years ago.
Hampden Park, however, is a venue he has yet to experience.
He went on: “I was speaking about it with my family the other day and saying this is a great chance to play at Hampden, even though it would just be a semi-final.
“It would be nice to tick that off from a personal point of view, but I think it would give everyone at the club a lift, especially the fans and the owners.
“It has been a long old season for different reasons.
“We want to give them something to shout about if we can.
“It has been a draining season for everyone but if we can end the season strongly, we can flip it into a positive.”
There have been struggles on and off the park for Kilmarnock this season.
Manager Alex Dyer left after a string of disappointing results and the club was fined for breaches of Covid-19 regulations.
Dicker believes the pandemic has been handled better in England.
He said: “It has been difficult and I just think the way Covid has been handled up here, it’s like you’re a criminal if you
have Covid or a football club has it. It’s only now, probably, they’re realising that teams have been doing their best to fight against it.
“I think you look down at England and the way they’ve handled, it has been a bit better.
“I’ve spoken to lads there and they’ve had 18 or 19 cases at one club.
“We had a few up here and people wanted us locked away and burned to the ground. “Everyone’s doing their best.
“I know some people have broken rules and done stuff. But that happens, whether it’s in sport or other areas of life.
“We have Under-18s who have just come back in the last few weeks after missing a year of football.
“They’d have been training all the time and might have been around the first team.
“They’re also missing going out and having a bit of fun because, listen, it can’t be serious all the time in football.
“They’ve missed both sides of football. They’ve missed the craic and getting to know one another.
“It has been difficult for everyone but there’s ways of dealing with it.
“I don’t think people need to be hung out to dry all the time.”