Samuel Gelston's Whiskey Irish Cup second round: Queen's v Glentoran (today, 3pm)
QUEEN’S University manager Peter Thompson is fully aware that his side have it all to do when they welcome Glentoran to The Dub for their Irish Cup tie today but that won’t stop his players from believing they can pull off an upset.
Glentoran are top of the Danske Bank Premiership after four straight victories and beat championship side Dergview 3-2 in the last round.
Meanwhile, Queen’s saw off Newington and have won three consecutive league fixtures but still sit bottom of the table.
“We know it’s going to be David versus Goliath but Saturday will be a very enjoyable occasion,” said Thompson
“Nobody expects anything of us but we do.
“It's football anything can happen and who knows it’s not as if it hasn’t happened before. It happened two years ago against the other half of the big two at the same venue.”
The students withdrew from this competition last season but recorded a shock 2-1 victory over Linfield a couple of seasons ago in the fifth round.
It has been a tumultuous time since for Queen’s due to COVID-19 but Thompson isn’t disheartened as he is all too familiar with this situation.
“Things have slightly changed since then. We have had a difficult time on and off the pitch in terms of the pandemic in terms of students," he said
“Even though people might say from the outside that Queens are struggling no one within the club is in any way panicking because we have been through this before.”
“We know exactly where we are at. We knew that we were going to be in the bottom two or three places in the league at the start of the year and we’ve clawed our way back in recent weeks.”
“Saturday’s a big game it will be an enjoyable game don’t get me wrong but the 12 league games are more important for the club but Saturday’s game is a bit of rest bite for the players and occasion for the fans.”
Thompson announced that the club received an offer to change the venue of the tie to The Oval but that was never an option as he looks to give his side the best possible chance of winning and producing another memorable moment for their supporters:
“Never say never in football but it’s going to be a big ask. We need to be really on it and Glentoran would have to have an off day but that’s exactly why we brought it to The Dub.
“We had an offer to switch the game to The Oval but that was a non-runner from the very start. These occasions are for our fans and for our players’ family and friends as they put their wits against the leading club in the country at the minute.
“First and foremost, if you were to go to The Oval 20 times, we would lose 19 but at our own pitch we know it well and we play the pitch well. It’ll be unknown to them but we also wanted to bring our fans and bring Glentoran to The Dub to show off Queen’s sports facilities as well.”
