Clearer Water Irish Cup Final; Cliftonville v Linfield
(Windsor Park, Saturday, 2.30pm, live on BBC2)
 
LINFIELD’S Irish Cup win in 2021 was bittersweet for Kyle McClean - delighted for his team-mates, but also disappointment that injury had left him watching from the stands.

Getting back to the showpiece has been high on his list of priorities and McClean more then played his part, netting twice in the semi-final win over Glentoran.

Indeed, the 25-year-old had enjoyed a superb season, culminating in him being named Player of the Year at the recent NI Football Awards, edging out Larne’s Andy Ryan and a man he will likely come into direct contact with this week, Cliftonville’s Rory Hale who scooped the PFA NI Player of the Year award.

“I’m immensely proud to win it, but first and foremost, the main thing is to win trophies here and be successful as a club,” said McClean.

“A couple of years we got there, but with Covid, there wasn’t much of a crowd and it felt different. I was disappointed not to play but buzzing for the boys winning it. It gave me a bit of hunger and drive to play in one, so hopefully I get the opportunity to do that.

“A lot is being made of ticket sales, the crowd that will be there and rivalry between the clubs, so it will be a huge game. Regardless, it is an Irish Cup final and the biggest game in our football calendar.”

The midfield battle between two quality operators in McClean and Hale will be a key battle this week, but a cup final can come down to small moments and it doesn’t take much for the script to be torn up.

Linfield have held the upper hand in meetings between the sides this season, but McClean is not expecting anything other than a stern challenge from the Solitude side.

“Any time we’ve played them, going back to the fourth or five (league) game it was really good and we edged it 2-1,” he recalled.

“At Solitude, we edged the first and then played really well (in the 3-0 win) but they were tough games.

“They have a lot of good players like Rory and (Ronan) Doherty who had a really good season, so it will be a tough game. There probably won’t be a lot of time early on in the middle of the park, but we’ll see what happens.”