Bradford City striker Billy Clarke joined us to discuss his side’s FA Cup run, their upcoming quarter-final with Reading and his future ambitions.
I suppose we should jump straight in and talk about the FA Cup this season, are you surprised at how well you and your team-mates have done in the competition?
I suppose so, yeah I’m not surprised but I was not expecting it. The draw we had against Chelsea, we hoped we would get a good result or at least give a good account of ourselves. But, to be 2-0 down and then to win 4-2. It was unbelievable.
For clubs in League one or two, cups can be a good financial boost. You never set out to win it, you just to see how far you can go. When we started out this season, it was our aim to get promoted and not to get to an FA Cup final. That is ridiculous, but where we are now, we can start thinking about the FA Cup final now and the chance to play at Wembley. It would be an incredible thing for us.
Obviously the highlight of the cup run so far is the result against Chelsea, but you were equally as good against Sunderland, what has been the secret to beating Premier League opposition?
Purely hard work, our foundations at the club are work hard and to put in a good shift. We have an honest bunch of boys and some really good players, who work hard. We have won our games convincingly and that is because we have followed out foundations.
And, for you having played for numerous clubs, I know you didn’t feature in the Chelsea game but is the Sunderland game up their with your career highlights?
Yes definitely, they are not far off. Getting to the play off final was also up there with Blackpool.
In terms of facing Reading next, do you have to be careful how you approach them, in terms of having beaten Chelsea and Sunderland, do you face them in the same frame of mind?
We will go in with the same frame of mind but people will think because we beat Chelsea, we will find it easy, it will be the opposite. There is so much on the line, Reading are a better team than us and are not far off the Premier League themselves. But with our fans behind us, we can win. We will have the same mentality. We had generous draws in the competition, in the early stages, and we have played really really well, we have lots of options, like Jon Stead, who has scored in every round.
Its been a good season so far for you and the team, sitting in the promotion places now, was this expected at the start of the season?
Yes, it was our main aim. We are in sixth and playing well, we lost last Tuesday for the first time in seven games but we have played really well. Come the end of the season I think we will be there. We cannot prioritise. We have to work with both. We are preparing for each game the same and trying to play as well as we can. We are enjoying them too as they don’t come round too often.
And, as for yourself, eight goals for you this season if I am correct, do you set yourself a personal target?
I just go with the flow, I’ve set targets before but sometimes you hit them, sometimes you don’t. I tend to go off the previous season, and try to better myself.
Still only 27, what ambitions do you have for the future, I mean obviously playing in the Championship again would be up their wouldn’t it?
I would love to play at the top level again, short term, I would love to get promoted and play in the Championship with Bradford. My dream is to play for Ireland, I loved playing for U21’s and it would be my dream to represent my country.