Determined Diamond out to buck the trend

IS IT MY TURN? Athletic’s stand-in skipper Zander Diamond is entitled to ask the question after so many disappointments in cup competitions.

ZANDER Diamond knows more than most about cup adventures.

The former Aberdeen centre-back has played in a host of big ties in his career.

Three years ago, he was in an Aberdeen side which enjoyed a UEFA Cup journey featuring fixtures at Panathaniakos, Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich — the latter game, in front of a mainly-German crowd of 66,000.

Domestically, too, the combative 26-year-old has been in the knock-out spotlight. Unfortunately for him, the running theme has been one of disappointment.

Last season, he was part of a Dons side beaten twice by Celtic in semi-final ties at Hampden Park; two years ago, First Division side Dunfermline humbled Aberdeen on penalties to make it into the last four of the Scottish Cup; and in 2008, one of the biggest shocks of all time saw lowly Queen Of The South dump the Dons out of the Scottish Cup at the last-four stage via a 4-3 victory, in which Diamond hit both bar and post in desperate search for a late equaliser.

With that bank of experience under his belt, a Johnstone's Paint Trophy tie in front of just over 2,000 fans at Scunthorpe on a Tuesday night in October might seem small fry in comparison.

With the best will in the world, Glanford Park is certainly no Allianz Arena.

But you wouldn't have guessed so judging by Diamond's all-action performance in Athletic's gutsy 1-0 second-round win.

Throwing himself into blocks, leaping for headers and getting stuck into meaty challenges on the ground in seeking to preserve a clean sheet, it was a true captain's knock from the former Scotland under-21s skipper, who isn't getting ahead of himself in terms of setting sights on a first career final.

"You hear the fans singing the Wembley songs, but as players and professionals you take one game at a time," said Diamond, captain of the team in the continued absence of Dean Furman.

"We are in the hat and we are happy with that. It is what we wanted.

"But I am not one who thinks we should get ahead of ourselves. I don't think the manager is, either.

"I have been informed that we hadn't won a cup tie for some time, so it is good to be part of a side which has progressed to the next round.

"We were unfortunate against Carlisle in the Carling Cup, but hopefully we can kick on from here.

"We owed it to the supporters who turned up to the game. They made a long trip to Exeter at the weekend and we let them down.

"Winning this game shows that we are resilient. We got the goal and could have had one or two more.

"Going into half-time at 1-0, away in a cup-tie, you know they are going to throw everything at you.

"We coped with it well, starting from the front.

"We dug in and all you can ask is that we go into the hat for the next round.”

While Diamond and Huddersfield loan man Nathan Clarke have formed an effective silk-and-steel partnership at the back — or cloth-cap and granite, possibly, given their respective

former clubs — the Scot was keen to praise the team effort which helped bring back a second win of the season from North Lincolnshire.

And he hopes Athletic can take a similar work ethic with them into Monday night's home npower league One clash with MK Dons, which is being broadcast live.

"The defence and goalkeeper get the credit for that (Tuesday’s victory), but for me, the win was down to performances all over the park," he added.

"The shifts that Tom Adeyemi and James Wesolowski produced in the centre of midfield sometimes get overlooked.

"We are really pleased with it and we need to take it into Monday night's game against MK Dons.

"Everyone wants to play in the televised games. MK Dons are flying and coming to our patch - hopefully it will be near to a full house.

"We are looking forward to it. We will dust ourselves down and get going again in training.”