Comment

DARLINGTON'S play-off matchwinner Ian Miller has given the thumbs up to former England manager Steve McClaren following his day training Quakers.

As exclusively revealed in last Friday's The Northern Echo, boss Dave Penney invited his friend McClaren to take coaching last week ahead of the play-off semi-final first leg with Rochdale.

Miller, a late sub on Saturday, says the former Middlesbrough manager gave Quakers a boost ahead of a game which Darlington dramatically won 2-1 thanks to the defender's injury time header.

"It was good to have different perspective on things," said Miller who could start in Saturday's second leg should Alan White failed to recover from the dead leg that forced him to leave the field early at the weekend.

"His training was different from most of the things we've done before but the lads treated him like they would do any other coach even though he used to be the manager of the England team.

"He was great with all the lads and it was a fun, enjoyable session.

It might have played a part in the first leg, it might not have, but I think that we need to do that sort of thing more often.

"A bit of variety can really help because it can get a bit stale when you are doing the same sessions week-in, week-out - which we definitely do not do at this club - and it helps us.

"We had no warning from the manager so it was a case of hang on a minute that's the ex-England manager.

"It certainly took us all by surprise.

He's a local gentleman and he's friends with the manager but he'd not dropped by before at training when I've been here but his coaching definitely went down well with all the lads."

As Miller has given Darlington the advantage, supporters could be forgiven for starting to think about what would be the club's third trip to Wembley.

But Miller, was quick to point out that Quakers are only halfway towards reaching the play-off final while Dale will still fancy their chances of reaching Wembley for the first time in their history.

Rochdale finished the season in fine form and at home scored an impressive 22 goals in their last eight games.

"Wembley's a possibility but we've got to remember we're only half-way through the tie," said the 24-year-old who says he would next season love to play against hometown team Colchester United following their relegation from the Championship.

"We did ready well in the first leg, especially in defence when you consider that we had players out of position in energy-sapping conditions.

"My goal gives us the upper hand but anything can happen at their place. So we can't get complacent but we've just to focus on doing an efficient job so we can celebrate getting to Wembley.

"We've got every chance of shutting Rochdale out at their place. They came here and at 1-1 you could see that they were pushing for the win which shows you their ambition.

"Obviously we've got the keep them out at the back and with players like David Stockdale and Steve Foster I think we should be okay."

Miller signed permanently for Quakers in January from Ipswich Town for whom he had joined from Suffolk non-league club Bury Town in 2006.

But he remains a fan of his Essex hometown club and he added: "I supported Colchester as a kid. My dad used to take me when I was a lad because it was only five minutes from where I lived.

"I was a mascot and stood in the family enclosure.

I still support Colchester and I'll be chomping at the bit to play at their new stadium next season."

5:03am Tuesday 13th May 2008

Print

Email this

Comment

Add your comment

Name:
Email: *
Location:
**
	e.g. 123-123
Comment: Please note: All HTML tags will be ignored. Format Text:
By posting a comment, I confirm that I have read and agree to the terms of use. Comments are not moderated but we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention and we may delete inappropriate postings. Please treat other people with respect. You must not post anything that is abusive, indecent, unlawful or defamatory. Remember, you are personally liable for what you post on this site. If you wish to complain about a comment, contact us here.
* Your email address will not be displayed ** To avoid register now or login