Glentoran taking nothing for granted

Boss Mick McDermott is all to aware of the threat posed by an underdog in this competition having been pushed all the way by Queen’s a couple of years ago. A last-gasp winner from

Robbie McDaid gave the Glens the win in a five-goal thriller that day as they went on to lift the cup.

And McDermott is expecting another tough test in this first-ever competitive meeting between the sides, especially with the likes of Bennie Igiehon in fine form for Tommy Canning’s side.

“Obviously, we don’t know as much about Dergview as we would about a Premiership opponent, but we had them watched at Dundela last weekend,” he told the club website.

“That was a 2-2 draw, so we got a very thorough report on them. It will be a hard game and we are under no illusions.

“We got it tight a couple of years ago at Queen’s University. We won 3-2 that day and it was tight right to the end until Robbie got the winner. So we know anything can happen in a cup tie.”

The Glens slipped to their first defeat in 14 games at home to Larne last week but McDermott is hoping the inclusion of new signings Michael O’Connor and Sean Murray will help them get it out of their system quickly.

“While we were all disappointed with last week’s league defeat against Larne, we’ll bounce back quickly from it,” he said.

“We will not over-think the result too much because of the extent of the players we had missing – and the quality of the players we have coming in. But with the new boys now available, we are looking forward to the second half of the season.

“Of our new players, Michael and Sean will be available for Saturday.

“Darren Cole just arrived with the group last Monday, so it will take him a couple of weeks to get up to speed in terms of training.”