Queen's captain David Whitten hoping to finish off the job and complete All-Ireland history

The students are two points clear at the top of the table going into the final day of the regular season and they could even be promoted before the action starts in Cork if Blackrock fail to win at Ballymena.

Queen’s topped the league last season but due to the Covid pandemic there was no automatic promotion and the students lost in a play-off final to Buccaneers.

Queen’s captain David Whitten is delighted the student’s destiny is in their own hands.

“Last year when you look back and think about it, it wasn’t really fair what happened and a lot of people had to leave Queen’s because of it,” he said. “The new group has come in and the new team has seen real growth.

“The opportunity to win the league and go up straight away is all credit to the boys.

"At the start of the season I’d have bitten your hand off for it.

"It has been a bit of a roller coaster this season – to be in the situation where promotion is in our on hands you really can’t ask for much more.

“We have to get the mindset right and take the opportunity that is in front of us.

“This has been like a Queen’s season of old where it has taken us a wee bit of time to get used to playing the way we want to play.

"And that starts to kick in at the end of the season and you see that.

“The Blackrock game showed everybody that the process works and the structure that we are trying to play in works.

"And there is a belief in it and you have seen the confidence grow in the playing squad in the last few games and you can’t ask for better results against Navan, Barnhall and Old Crescent.

“We have played very well against all three.

"Last week was more of a slog against Ballymena in the Senior Cup – you could tell they wanted the game but just the character to come through that I think again it was good development for the squad.”

Despite there being 44 points between the teams in the league table, Whitten is taking nothing for granted.

“I’m not sure what type of Dolphin team will turn up but I’m sure they will want to go out on a win,” he added. “They still put up a fight and we have to be in the right mindset just not to go through the emotions and really stamp our authority on the game early doors.

“The whole thing with the league being in our own hands is we still have to go and do something about it.

"It is not going to just happen, and we have been trying to drive that home this week.

“It is there for us to take but we have to take it.

"It is up to us to get the mindset right stick to the process and I think if we do that we’ll put ourselves in with a really good chance of doing it.”

In Division 2B, Dungannon are guaranteed a play-off spot and one of Belfast Harlequins or Rainey could join them but both need to win and hope results elsewhere go their way.