Irish Cup: Mulgrew says winning Irish Cup would ‘soften blow’ of league loss

Fellow Blues midfielder Kyle McClean, who was named Irish Premiership Player of the Year, is looking forward to playing in his first Irish Cup final after an injury plagued couple of seasons.

“It’s a game I’ve wanted to play in, and it would top off the season to add silverware despite not winning the league,” he said.

“I’ve had a difficult couple of years after my knee injury and I’m just happy to get back playing regularly and I have been on a good run, so it’s been great how I’ve performed.”

McClean echoed Mulgrew’s sentiment that Linfield must get over the hurt of missing out on the league title again in their quest to finish the campaign on a positive note.

“We have to dust ourselves down and look forward to the final. I would swap any individual award to get my hands on the Irish Cup.”

The 25-year old is expecting a tough test against Cliftonville, who finished third in the league, but he is ready to embrace the occasion in front of a sold-out crowd at Windsor Park.

“Cliftonville have had a great season and for large parts of the season they were the form team,” he admitted.

“The games between us this season have been tight and there have been good battles, so it will be a good game in front of a lively crowd.

“It will be electric and we’re really looking forward to.”