Kilduff: We're proud but we're not here to make up the numbers

Birthday boy and Dundalk super-sub Ciaran Kilduff spoke with reporters following Thursday night’s record-breaking 1-0 victory over Maccabi Tel-Aviv at Tallaght Stadium.

 

The 28-year-old striker beamed as he explained what the goal means to him personally and where it leaves the Lilywhites in terms of progressing from the group.

 

“It was amazing,” Kilduff said. “I think that I’ll remember that for the rest of my life, It’s something special and we knew [beforehand] that it was a huge night and to mark it like that is a special moment.

 

“This team is doing amazing things and at this moment in time to have four points from six is an amazing feat.

 

“It’s something that we’re proud of but we’re not here to make up the numbers. Our aim is to get out of this group and we still have a lot of work to do.”

 



Elsewhere on the night, Zenit St. Petersburg humbled AZ 5-0 in Russia, leaving Stephen Kenny’s men clear of the pack in second-place. Dundalk now face Mircea Lucescu’s star-studded Zenit side in back-to-back rounds, the first of which takes place in Tallaght on October 20th.

 

“It’s going to be huge. We have seen two of the teams so far and we probably have the toughest test to come in Zenit who are probably a Champions League team so we’ll prepare for that and hopefully we’ll get another night like we did tonight and get a big crowd. They [the crowd] were amazing and hopefully there is more of that to come.”

 

By the time that Dundalk face AZ and Maccabi in rounds five and six, the Airtricity League season will have concluded, and Kilduff believes that that gives the Lilywhites an advantage with them being able to focus all of their attentions firmly on Europe.

 



“By that stage all of the league games will be over and then we can focus our concentration solely on those two games, give it 100% and whole-heartedly prepare for them.”

 

Typical of Dundalk’s recent fixture catalogue, they face Derry City on Sunday afternoon in the semi-final of the FAI Cup. Kilduff, although admitting that they’ll enjoy the European win, insists that all focus must swiftly switch to their encounter with the Candystripes.

 

Kilduff explained: “We have to flick our attentions towards Derry now though. We’ll enjoy tonight but we’re in the gym tomorrow and training Saturday because we have a big FAI Cup semi-final on Sunday which in any other year would be one of the biggest games of the year.

 

“We have got seven games in the league which are all cup finals, we have got another four Europa League games and the Derry game so they’re all cup finals and the squad will be tested.

 

“Over the years, it’s usually been the fellas on the bench who have come on and done it when we were stuck so we’re in this together.

 

“We have a tough few games ahead in the league and we’ll hopefully think about the remaining European games after the league is done.”