IT’S WIN OR BUST NOW..

Mcdaid admits pressure has grown at Glens

club now is about winning games instead of not losing games. “Maybe in recent years we were rocking up thinking ‘if we get a point today, we’ll be doing rightly’, but that’s not good enough now. “We put that pressure on ourselves, from the management down to the players. We’re in the mix but it’s important we keep it going.”

On netting a hat-trick on his 100th appearance, Mcdaid said: “It was a nice way to mark it.

“It’s my second hat-trick of the season and it helps the tally. I’m two shy of 20 now and I set a marker of 20 at the start of the season, so it’s been a good season personally.

“But we haven’t won anything yet and there’s still a long way to go, so it’s important we’re all hitting top form at this time of year.” Queen’s, who lie eighth in the Championship, twice hit back through Jonah Mitchell and Matthew Hughes after Mcdaid had edged the Glens 1-0 and 2-1 ahead in the first-half.

But the Students, who shocked Linfield in the last round, were undone 17 minutes from time when Mcdaid met an Elvio van Overbeek cross to tap home.

“It was a poor performance and the pitch was tough, but credit to Queen’s because they got it down and put in a really good performance,” said Mcdaid.

“At 2-2, there’s a bit of doubt creeps into your head and you think ‘oh no’, but you have to remain calm. Thankfully we were able to finish it off and progress.”

Queen’s coach Peter Thompson said: “I’m immensely proud.

“I thought the level of our performance was really high and it didn’t look like we were a level below Glentoran.”