PADDY McLaughlin believes that Saturday’s Sadler’s Peaky Blinders Irish Cup Round Two clash with Glentoran is undoubtedly tie of the round.
 
The Reds make the trip across Belfast to The Oval on Saturday evening (5.30pm kick-off) looking for a place in the last eight on Tuesday evening.
 
It’s a repeat of last year’s semi-final which the Glens won on penalties en-route to securing the Cup.

There is an interesting dynamic to the game with Paul O'Neill and Conor McMenamin swapping sides in January. With Linfield a game from retaining their Premiership title, this game affords both the opportunity to claim silverware.
 
McLaughlin is under no illusions that the Glens are one of the best sides in the division but feels that league form goes out the window when it comes to the Cup.
 
“It’s the tie of the round,” said McLaughlin.
 
“The Glens are one of the best sides in the division, especially at the minute they’re flying.
 
“They’ll be disappointed at tonight’s result (1-1 draw with Coleraine that all but confirms Linfield as champions) because I’m sure they would have wanted to push for the winner to try and keep on the coattails of Linfield and hope for a slip-up between now and the end of the season.
 
“I’m sure they’ll be disappointed they didn’t win the game but in the Irish Cup the form goes out the window and league positions goes out the window. It’s a big game for both sides.

“Glentoran will want to retain the Cup and we’re trying to end the long wait for the supporters and the club.
 
“42 years (since the last Irish Cup win) is a crazy record for such a big club and so many great sides down the years. Not to win the Cup in that long is amazing almost, so i’s up for us to try and end that this year.
 
“We’ll have no problem getting ready for it, we’ll have no problem with our confidence. Our only worry is decisions going against us that is costing us matches at the minute.”
McLaughlin insists that his players won’t need picked up following back-to-back league defeats and wants them to carry a siege mentality following some refereeing decisions of late.
 
“We don’t need to pick the players up; the players are grand and are in there looking to kick the door down to get back out on the pitch because they know what happened,” he insists.
 
“It wasn’t a bad performance on Tuesday night. If the players perform badly, they go out the door with their head down. They’re going out tonight with their chests out because they knew they played well and they were the better team.
 
“It’s been a siege mentality since I’ve been here. I’ve seen a lot of decisions over the past two and a half years that are very controversial and given against us but it’s nothing new.
 
“It’s the business end of the season and these decisions now could cost the club financially. It could cost us European football and we can’t keep ignoring it.
 
“If this is mid-season with a lot more games to play then we can get on with it and they say these things even themselves out - it does not.
 
“This is the business end of the season and every game is a cup final, so we can’t have poor performances from officials.”
 
McLaughlin was unhappy with the decisions and feels they are costing valuable points that could in turn cost his side a European place at the end of the season.
 
“It’s the exact same referring performance as Saturday,” McLaughlin said.
 
“There’s four penalties that have been awarded against us in the last two games and none in our favour and three of them have been controversial. One was a stone-waller but three of them were controversial.
 
“Three points could have led to us closing to within six-points and puts us into an automatic European place. We can’t keep ignoring the performance of referees - it’s not good enough.
 
“There’s too much money involved in the league and at stake for clubs like Cliftonville who are already swimming against the tide in terms of what other clubs have around us.
 
“If we keep ignoring these then they are going to keep getting away with it. It’s something that has to be reviewed and highlighted on a regular basis.”

Paul O'Neill has returned from injury and is in line to face his former club
2Gallery

Paul O'Neill has returned from injury and is in line to face his former club

McLaughlin has been boosted by the return of former Glens’ striker Paul O’Neill who came off the bench against Larne on Tuesday evening and Levi Ives who also took his place on the bench following a long layoff with a metatarsal break against Crusaders in October.
 
“It’s good to see good players coming back available,” said McLaughlin.
 
“There were 13 senior players missing from Saturday’s game and we’ve had a lot of players injured over the course of the season. It’s an unbelievable record of injuries but it was good to see one of two of them coming back. They’re pushing hard and they know how important it is at this time of year.
 
“They know how important it is to the club and the team, so it’s good to see them come back off the treatment table and back onto the pitch because they’re key players for us.
 
“The more of them we have available the stronger we are so it’s good to see them back.”