Dungannon Swifts season has been a 'dream' for Rodney McAree with league and cup history still up for grabs

Since the Premiership became a 12-team division in 2008/09, Dungannon have only finished inside the top-six once, ending the 2009/10 campaign in fifth, but they could go one better this term by sealing fourth if they defeat Crusaders on Saturday.

That would also match the club’s best this century and provide the perfect platform heading into just their second-ever Irish Cup final, where they’ll meet Cliftonville at Windsor Park next weekend.

It has already been a memorable campaign for McAree, who was named Manager of the Year at the NIFL Football Awards earlier this month and has earned widespread praise for the style of football his side have been able to implement in an increasingly competitive Premiership.

Only Linfield (69) and Coleraine (54) have scored more goals than Dungannon (50) of teams that finished in Section A with John McGovern and Andrew Mitchell forming one of the top-flight’s most destructive partnerships.

Rather than being weighed down by the potential pressure of finding themselves in uncharted waters at the business end of a stunning season, McAree has encouraged his players to continue showing the freedom which has got them here – something which was on full display in last weekend’s 3-2 win over Glentoran.

"We try to give them that freedom and allow them to go out and express themselves,” said McAree. "At times the players need to go out and make their own decisions, they aren’t robots and we can’t just drum everything into them.

"We have an idea of how we want to play and it’s up to them when they go out on the pitch to make their own mistakes as such and try to do the right thing.

"If somebody had told us at the start of the season we’d be going into the final league match looking to finish fourth and in an Irish Cup final, you’d have taken it all day long.

"It’s a dream to be honest and I never expected us to be in the position we are, but we find ourselves here.

"We have to focus on Crusaders next week and try to get a positive result.”

The winner of Saturday’s showdown between Dungannon and Crusaders will be set to receive home advantage in the European play-offs – the former won’t require that route should they triumph in the Irish Cup final.

Caddell played on the continental stage many times during a hugely successful career on the pitch at Seaview and is now hoping to guide them back there in his first season as boss.

"We are sitting fifth and Dungannon fourth, so it's a head-to-head and whoever wins goes fourth, which could be home advantage for the play-offs,” said Caddell. "Both teams will be going for it but our aim has been to finish as high up the table as we possibly can.

"We will be treating (Dungannon) the exact same (as last weekend’s win over Coleraine) and then we have a week-and-a-half to wait until the first play-off game.

"It will give some time for boys who are carrying injuries and I want to go into that play-off game with a headache like every manager does.

"I want people to show me what they can do.”