Crumlin United boss Martin Loughran: "There's a great chance of getting to a quarter-final here"

Crumlin United manager Martin Loughran admits his side have a great chance of reaching the quarter-finals of the FAI Cup when they face Lucan United on Sunday afternoon.

Loughran’s Crumlin United face off against the rising Lucan United at Captain’s Road, with a spot in the last eight of the FAI Cup at stake.

“It’s the big game that everyone in the area is looking forward to for the two clubs,” Loughran told extratime.ie.

“It’s a chance for a non-league club to get into the last eight of the FAI Cup so there’s a great incentive to win for both clubs and the league to win obviously.

“We beat Malahide in the last round and Lucan got Killester, so we were both looking for a big draw in the next round, but we got drawn against each other.

“There’s a great chance of getting to a quarter-final here. It’s great for the lads to have a chance to make a quarter-final.

“There’ll be a couple of lads on both teams that will lads who have played in the later rounds with League of Ireland clubs but when you’re there anything can happen, everyone dreams don’t they?

With plenty of former League of Ireland players on both sides, the Crumlin boss is hopeful that he can utilise his players experience and quality ahead of this weekend’s crunch clash.

“You’re hoping that lads who have played previously with League of Ireland clubs can help motivate those around them to help in the cups.

“It’s about trying to match what you’re playing against. Obviously, whoever gets through this game will have a great chance at playing one of the big teams.

“It’s a great chance to match up with one of the big teams and see where you’re at compared to them.

“There’s going to be a lot of interested people in seeing Dave Mooney. It’s obviously a game between Crumlin and Lucan but there’ll be a lot of people to see Dave Mooney to see where he’s at.

“It’s great for the league to have those kinds of players in it, I’m sure there’s a lot of players in our league that teams in the National League would like to have but for one reason or another they don’t want to go.

“Lucan have got some really good signings, I watched them against Killester, and they were very good.

“Player wise, Lucan have players who could easily play in our league so it’s not like we’re playing a lower team so it’s a really tight game to call and whoever gets the luck will win the game.”

However, this will be just Crumlin’s third competitive game of their season – which leaves Loughran in a far from ideal situation as manager.

“It is what is, and you have to play the games when they’re fixed. It’s there to suit the big teams and that’s the way football is in this country at the moment.

“It’s not ideal when the cup is your first competitive game of the season as we had against Malahide in the previous round.

“We managed to get a league game in last Sunday, even though we were beaten but it is what it is, it can help you, it can hinder you.

“At the end of the day, I think most teams are just happy to be in it and looking forward to testing themselves against the big teams.”

The Leinster Senior League winning manager added; “It’s always questioned whether or not the top teams in the LSL can compete in the National League, and I feel we could compete but until you actually compete you can’t know for sure.

“We played Wexford Youths and Finn Harps before and beat them, but can we do it on a regular basis?

“We can go and beat one of the best teams in the Leinster Senior League then lose to a team in 1B.

“Obviously, the League of Ireland is a higher standard, there’s no point in denying that but we feel we could compete in the First Division, but you wouldn’t know until we compete in it on a regular basis.”