'This might be my biggest chance to reach the final'

A place in the FAI Cup Final, the chance to lead Waterford out at Aviva Stadium, and the opportunity to end a 22-year wait to return to Irish football's showpiece occasion are providing all the motivation Waterford FC captain Padraig Amond needs ahead of their semi-final showdown with Bohemians.

The Blues travel to Dalymount Park on Friday knowing they are just one win away from a first FAI Cup Final appearance since 2004, and their captain admits the magnitude of the occasion is not lost on anyone in the dressing room.

"It's a big game for the club and it's a big game for the players as well," he said.

"These are the occasions you want to be involved in. You want to try and win trophies throughout your career and you want to be playing in cup finals, in the showcase game of the season.

"It's a great opportunity for us as players and for the club as well to get there for the first time since 2004. I've spoken to David Breen a lot about it because he's a Waterford legend. It's a long time since the club has been there and even longer since they've won one."

While Waterford's younger players may have plenty of years ahead of them, the experienced skipper knows opportunities like this can be rare.

Reflecting on a career that began two decades ago, he revealed that appearing in an FAI Cup Final remains one of the major ambitions he has yet to fulfil.

"I'd love to lead this club out into the Aviva. It's definitely something I want to do and I want to win this trophy," he said.

"I spoke about it at the beginning of the season. It's something we can aim for.

"My first year in football was 20 years ago and we got to a semi-final. That's as far as I've got since. I left Sligo in 2010 and they ended up winning the FAI Cup and the League Cup that year.

"The only other cup final I've been involved in was a League Cup Final in Portugal. I've never played in the showcase game, the FAI Cup Final.

"From a selfish point of view, I want to win. I want to stand on the steps of the Aviva and lift the trophy. I've told my boy I want to bring the trophy into his school.

"There's stuff in my head that's driving me on. Let's have it right as well, I'm running out of time. There's not going to be another 20 years of this."

The captain has also urged Waterford's younger players to embrace the opportunity, stressing that reaching a cup final should never be taken for granted.

"It would be brilliant for the likes of Benny and Colin and those lads if they were making a final this early in their careers. Luke has been there and won it, Tommy has been there and won it, and they'll want to do that again.

"For the rest of the lads, it's about making the point that you can be in football a long, long time and this might be the opportunity to get there. Make the most of it."

Standing in Waterford's way is a Bohemians side enjoying an outstanding season and firmly involved in the Premier Division title race.

The Waterford captain has been impressed by the work carried out at Dalymount Park under Alan Reynolds but insists the Blues have every reason to believe they can progress.

"People have spoken about their resurgence but they've been very solid throughout the whole year," he said.

"They're second in the league and going for the title. They've got very good players, but we've got good players as well. We're a good team.

"We're not going to underestimate them. Dalymount Park is a very difficult place to go. It always has been.

"It'll be a special occasion. It's a standalone fixture on television and that makes it an even better occasion. It's a great opportunity for both sides.

"Of course we'd have preferred a home draw, that's natural, but we'll believe in ourselves. We know if we put in a performance we can get a result and we're going to do everything we can to get that result."

Since Graham Coughlan's arrival, Waterford's fortunes have been transformed and the captain believes the growing belief within the squad has been one of the biggest factors behind the resurgence.

"Every game we go into, we think we can win but now the belief is there that we can win every game.

"There's an expectation within ourselves that we're going to get a result. The disappointment after the Shamrock Rovers game showed how far the group has come because we genuinely felt there was an opportunity to take something from the game.

"We want to keep getting better and better and hopefully we can keep that going."

Waterford will be without suspended midfielder Evan McLaughlin for the semi-final, but the skipper says the attitude within the squad remains unchanged.

"Evan McLaughlin is a loss because he's been brilliant for us, but it's next man up. That's the mantra we have to have.

"Evan has been brilliant around the place all week, and I know he'll be the same again. He'll be the best teammate there is over the next few days because he knows how much everybody wants to get to a cup final.

"We're ready for it. We're ready for the game, and we're ready for whatever it takes."