Hi °C | Lo °C Stephen Craigan is relishing the prospect of playing at the Aviva Stadium tonight when Northern Ireland open up their Carling Nations Cup campaign against Scotland.
In the absence of the injured Aaron Hughes and Maik Taylor, the 34-year-old Motherwell defender will lead the side out in Dublin.
He's been captain before, but that doesn't lessen his pride in wearing the armband.
The 5,000 Northern Ireland fans making the trip to the fair city know they can rely on Craigan. And he is relying on them to make the Aviva Stadium a home from home this evening.
“We were down having a look at the ground on Monday and it is a great stadium. It would be nice having one of those in Belfast. I know it won't be at full capacity for the Scottish game, but I'm sure our fans will make a lot of noise and help us on the night,” said Craigan, who’ll win his 53rd cap.
He'll come up against players he knows all too well from playing in the Scottish Premier League.
“Playing again against the boys I face week in week out is a bit like having fish and chips every night. Sometimes it's good to have something different, but I'm happy to play against anyone for my country and hopefully we can get a positive result,” added Craigan, showing that unlike many players he doesn't deal in cliches.
No wonder he is carving out a successful career as a media pundit.
One man he doesn't face in Scotland these days is Kenny Miller, now with Turkish club Bursaspor.
“He scored lots of goals against us and I reckon I helped get him his move so maybe I'll ask him for a few quid,” joked the defender, who made his international debut eight years ago this month.
“He's a very good striker, but he's not the only quality player Scotland have. You have others like Charlie Adam (Blackpool) and Scott Brown (Celtic) who are captains of their clubs and we'll have to watch out for them.”
With so many senior players missing tonight, Craigan will be a key figure for manager Nigel Worthington.
Indeed he is the type who youngsters like Liam Boyce, Adam Thompson, Lee Hodson, Rory McArdle and Oliver Norwood, all set to face the Scots at some stage, can look up to.
The skipper said: “It is great for the future that Nigel is bringing them through. It will stand us in good stead for years to come.”
