Hometown boy Leroy Millar proud to lead Sky Blues

The midfielder will proudly lead out his hometown club as he captains the side against Crusaders.

Millar has been a key factor in the Sky Blues success and is determined to give the fans something to cheer about after their disappointment against Glentoran in the 2020 final.

“I’m extremely proud just to be getting to a final but now you need that wee bit extra to go on and win it,” he said.

“I’ll be proud to lead the team and Davy (Jeffrey) and Bryan (McLoughlin) have shown a lot of faith in me throughout the years.

“I want to repay them with a big performance.

“I was captain of the club in Europe as well, which was another proud moment - but you’re judged on what you win as a footballer and hopefully on the day it will be one to remember.

“At the start of the season things weren’t going well and the fans were having a rough time.

“Hopefully we can repay them now and bring the cup home to Ballymena.

“In 2020 against Glentoran it was in front of only 500 fans.

“Hopefully the Sky Blues fans can turn out in their numbers and we can go one better this time.

“One thing I’ve learnt is it’s all about the result not the performance in cup games...so hopefully we can go one better now.

“You just have to build it up yourself, any chance of silverware is what you want.”

Millar accepts Ballymena will be slight underdogs this afternoon, but they have shown already this season they have been more than a match for the Crues.

“We’re expecting a very, very tough game and they’ll be heavy favourites going into the game,” he said.

“But being underdogs suits us to a tee.

“The league is our bread-and-butter and everyone says the table doesn’t lie - Crusaders are up there battling for a reason.

“It’s a consistency basis and we just have not been as consistent.

“But on the one-off day it could be our day - we will see on Saturday.”