Macca's high hopes

Sunday's meeting with Millwall will see a team from outside the top flight reach The Final for the first time since 1992 and for the Belfast-born McCartney, this season's Cup run has been something of a dream come true.

"I still have to pinch myself to think I will be tossing the coin in an FA Cup Semi-Final at Old Trafford," says McCartney. "I wouldn’t have believed anyone who told me this would happen at the start of the season, when I wasn’t sure of a place in the team let alone as captain.

"I don’t think our supporters can really believe we’re in the Semi-Final either. If anyone had told them back in August we’d get this far in The Cup, I think they would have laughed given what had happened last season. The main thing for us this year is to get promoted back into the Premiership but doing well in The Cup has been a real bonus."

McCartney first established himself as a first-teamer in the Sunderland line-up during the 2001/02 season and was made captain of the side earlier this season.

"If I could go that one step further and lead the team out at Cardiff in The Final, it would definitely be the highlight of my career," McCartney continued. "I’ve had a few phone calls for tickets, believe me. It’s a massive game for the club and the supporters and of course everyone wants to be there to witness it.

"If we get to The Final, we’ll be able to look back and think we’ve done pretty well. We’ve a lot of players in our team who have never gone so far in The Cup and if we can get to The Final we’ll go down in the history of the club.

"As a kid in Belfast I supported Liverpool and I keep thinking back to when Liverpool beat Sunderland 2-0 in the 1992 Final. Back then, people didn’t expect Sunderland to get to The Final but they did and hopefully we will again."

The winners of Sunday's match not only have a Final to look forward to but also a Final against one of the country's premier sides in Arsenal or Manchester United.

"We all hoped to get Millwall or Tranmere in the Semi-Final so we could miss the two big teams in Man United and Arsenal. There’s no certainty that we’ll beat Millwall though, because they’re a good side who have beaten us twice this season.

"We don’t want our Cup run to end in Manchester. We’ve knocked out some good sides and we need to do that again today.

"We’re still up and running in The Cup and this afternoon every one of us will be giving absolutely everything we’ve got to get to The Final."

You can read more from George as well as other players past and present in the official FA Cup Semi-Final programme. To buy your copy, go to either of the below sites...

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