Taggart: I still think about the 2008 final defeat to Ards

“Obviously the priority this season is promotion but we want to win every game we play and if that takes us to a cup final, then of course we want to win it,” Taggart told the Times.

“We’ve earmarked every competition, even though we went out of the first round of the League Cup. I think Friday night against a strong Crusaders Reserves side will be a real hard match.

“I still think about the 2008 final when we lost 2-1 in injury-time to Ards.

“Certainly every time I step onto the pitch at the start of each Steel and Sons Cup match, the first thing that comes into my head is the defeat in that final. I have been waiting on a chance to make up for it ever since.

“Last year in a heated quarter-final against Ards we were two up at the break and they beat us 3-2.

The competition has a lot of prestige in intermediate football; it’s one of the cups I want to win. It’s a medal that I would love to have and I know plenty of players who have one.”

And Taggart said he wouldn’t be surprised if the Michael Hughes shuffled the pack in terms of his starting line-up.

“The manager would be well within his rights to mix it up a wee bit and give the boys that have been waiting patiently a match.”

The 32-year-old defender was as disappointed as anyone with Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Donegal Celtic. “In the first five or 10 minutes we played well and looked as if we were going to carry on our form from the Ballyclare game but for what ever reason, whether it was our own mindset, attitude or whatever way you look at it, we just started slowing our passes up, not getting close to our men and I think it gave DC a bit of incentive.

“With us being off form, it was probably a point gained but with trying to keep pace with Dundela, it’s two points dropped.”