David McMillan believes that not playing well and winning is a mark of champions and insists he is not concerned how Dundalk earn their points this season.
The SSE Airtricity Premier Division title holders beat struggling Derry City last night at Oriel Park but needed a late deflected goal from substitute John Mountney to push their lead at the top of the table out to seven points.
Stephen Kenny’s side had been in free-scoring form, notching up 10 goals in their previous two league games.
Derry, on the other hand, had picked up just one point from their previous three matches.
Asked if the old saying that playing poorly and picking up wins was the sign of champions came to mind, striker McMillan told RTÉ Sport: “Yeah, I suppose so. That’s been said in the dressing room.
"It’s those games where you aren’t playing well. It’s easy to come and win 8-1 against Bray, but they all count for three points, whether it’s 8-1 or 1-0. It’s massive for us.”
McMillan admitted that they knew the Candystripes, despite their recent poor form, would be no pushovers.
“We knew Derry have had some indifferent results, they might come here and sit back a little bit and be very difficult to beat," he said. "We’ve seen that a good bit this season, that teams are coming here and sitting back.
“We have to do our best to try and break them down. In the first half we weren’t really good enough.
“We didn’t create enough chances and in the second half we improved a good bit but we still didn’t test their keeper as much as we’d like.
“In the end we’re just happy, it was a deflected goal but it’s a big win for us really, to get another three points and keep winning.
“They broke really well and there were some heart-attack moments. They played excellently in the first half. We didn’t expect any differently. We’re just delighted to get three points.”
