Shamrock Rovers' Daniel Lafferty looking forward to rubbing shoulders with AC Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic

The Dubliners face Milan at Tallaght Stadium later this month and Lafferty, who scored a brace against Cork City in the FAI Cup on Monday night, feels the tie is going to be a special night for the club.

The Italian giants may not be the global power they once were but they still possess Italian international goalkeeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma, and Swedish superstar, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, so the ex-Derry City full-back knows it’s going to be a tough night.

“Zlatan Ibrahimovic versus Roberto Lopes, not a problem,” laughs Lafferty. “Jokes aside, it’s obviously a marquee draw but it wasn’t the game we wanted in terms of the other teams that we could have faced. We probably would have fancied our chances against some others compared to a giant like AC Milan.

“It’s going to be an exciting fixture to be a part of. I was reading a lot of things on social media about Juventus playing Shamrock Rovers some years ago and those games looked great.

“I know they aren’t the same AC Milan that dominated European football, but they’re still AC Milan and finished fifth in Serie A last year, so they are obviously excellent. While they may not have the biggest household names that they would have had in years gone by, they have got Zlatan and other very good players.

“It’s an exciting draw, one of those games you want to be apart of, albeit we probably would have liked a smaller team which would have helped our chances of progressing.

“We talked amongst ourselves as players and if you are going to play AC Milan, let’s be honest, you want it to be in the San Siro. You want fans in the San Siro to make it even more of a spectacle, more exciting but with the times we are living in at the minute that wasn’t a possibility.

“As for the club itself, it’s probably not the fixture that they wanted in terms of getting more revenue. I’m sure they would have wanted a smaller team so we would have had a better chance of progressing. If the game was in the San Siro they could have sold the streaming rights and made money that way too, so it’s probably not the best financial fixture for the club but, look, it’s still AC Milan coming to Tallaght and that’s special.”

The 31-year-old believes Stephen Bradley will have a game plan for his team that might catch the seven times European Cup winners cold.

“It’s a one off match at home for us, somewhere we are very used to. Unfortunately there are not going to be any fans at the game so there’s not going to be that big a buzz which is a real pity so it’s up to us to make it an exciting game, AC Milan won’t have played any competitive fixture before the tie so we might catch them cold but it is a huge task,” he added.

“We might get an early goal, score from a set-piece or do this, that or the other, but the one thing I’ve learned during my time in football is that games rarely turn out the way you think they are going to turn out.

“Yes we might go out and lose 4-0 or 5-0 but I don’t really see it being that kind of game, I think it will be tighter than what most will give us credit for on paper.

“Look, we’ll go into the tie with a game plan and give ourselves the best opportunity to try and get something from the game and be competitive in the game.”

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