Shaun Miller on his goal against Exeter
Striker Shaun Miller came off the bench to bag one of the most important goals of his career on Sunday and we caught up with him at full time to get his reaction to his strike and to what had been an amazing game to watch.“It was obviously a great feeling to score,” he said. ”It was a massive goal in the scheme of things because it got us back in the game.
“I was disappointed with the first chance, the one-on-one, because I couldn’t quite scoop it round the keeper. I was delighted to make up for it and get a massive goal for us.
“Everyone knows Nicky [Adams] has been doing that with the crosses all season and I always try and look to get across the front man. It was a great ball and fortunately I was able to get on the end of it. I was delighted to see it go in."
“It’s definitely one of the most important goals I’ve ever scored," he admitted. "With the scale of the game and getting us back into it, and everything like that, it was a massive goal and it’s way up there for me.
“It was a crazy feeling. It was great for everyone and I think there was a bit of relief as well. We got out of jail a bit tonight but we’ll go down there on Thursday full of confidence knowing that we’ve already beaten them twice."
Speaking again about the chance which feel to him shortly after coming on, he said: “I was gutted that I missed it. As soon as I headed it past the first defender I thought ‘goal, left foot’ then I managed to get past the second defender as well. It sort of clipped my own boot and the keeper got there.
"He came out really quickly, to be fair, but I still should have knocked it round him. It was a poor touch but I’m just glad I was able to make up it for it."
Having got onto the pitch and made a real impact, he said: “I think my performance does send a message to the manager. I obviously came on down there in the final league game, and I've had some pitch time again today.
"It's been a frustrating few weeks because the red cards set me back - but that was my fault. A four game ban for the second red was gutting but I’ve just had to bide my time and try and work my way back in."
“If there is pressure when you come on in a game like that it’s good pressure," he said. "You’re going on to try and make an impact and that’s all you can do.
"Thankfully me and John [O’Sullivan] have both done that tonight. He’s scooped one in from the touchline that got us right back in the game.
“I was looking for the pass from John to be honest, but it went over my head and I saw that it was drifting in. You need those bits of luck sometimes. It got the crowd up and thankfully we got the equaliser as well.
“They were inches away at the other end in the last seconds of the game but we can’t be too disheartened to go to Exeter level after being 3-1 down."
On the feeling in the dressing room at full time, he said: “There were some strong words because we’ve played Exeter three times now and we’ve gone behind in all three games. We’re always giving ourselves an uphill battle so if we can stop them scoring first you’d like to think it would be a lot easier.
"Unfortunately it never works like that. It was a massive game and they played well and it was very open throughout the game.
“It’s 3-3 now, it’s level and there’s one game to win to get to Wembley. We can’t be too disappointed with that after being behind."
“With us winning at Exeter so recently we will be going there full of confidence," he told us. "It was a massive game that day and it will be an even bigger game on Thursday, so we’ve got no fears going down there. We know we can score goals - that’s nine goals we’ve scored against them in three games.
“We've been well supported in all of them as well. There’s nothing better than coming out and seeing all those fans and then hearing those huge roars towards the end. They are great games to be part of and I’m sure it will be exactly the same on Thursday.
“Another 3-2 would do on Thursday but I’m not sure how many hearts could take that! We’ll go down there full of confidence and knowing we can score goals. We’ll obviously try and keep them out at the other end and see what happens."
And will he be in the queue if it goes all the way to penalties?
“I’ll definitely be up for one if I’m on the pitch," he confirmed. "We’ll just be looking to do the job in the 90 minutes. There's a great fighting spirit amongst the lads and we know we can beat any team. We’ve got real belief and we’ll always keep going because we know we can score goals.
“There is a similar sort of level to the game as it was last time we went down there for us. We had to win - we’re obviously level now so it’s the same again. We know we can win there, and we’ll do whatever it takes to get it.”
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