The Bankies host McGhie’s former side Shettleston on Saturday in the fourth round of the Scottish and McGhie knows how important the cup could become for the club.

McGhie told SportScene: “It’s a chance to get away from the pressures of the league campaign. It wouldn’t be the first time a team who is not doing well in the league did well in the cup.

“The Scottish is a great cup. The further you go in it the more lucrative the games become and it is great if you can be a part of that.

“A win against Shettleston would give us confidence to take back into the league games.” Progress to the fifth round will not be easy for the Bankies as they face a Shettleston side flying high in the First Division, they sit second and in a good position to be promoted to the top flight.

McGhie said: “It will be difficult Shettleston are going well, they look like a Premier League team in the making. When I was there we got to the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup one year, they haven’t really had many good cup runs since then so they’ll be hoping for one this year.” Meanwhile McGhie has indicated that he would be happy to extend Queen’s Park centre back David McWilliams’ loan deal at the Bankies, but that decision is out of his hands.

He explained: “We have him until January 21. We would be open to extending that but it would be entirely Queen’s Park’s decision, I’ll speak to Gus MacPherson closer to the time, they did us a favour by letting us have David when we were struggling with injuries.

“He’s done well since he came in, he is a player with a lot of potential.” The Bankies host McGhie’s former side Shettleston on Saturday in the fourth round of the Scottish and McGhie knows how important the cup could become for the club.

McGhie told SportScene: “It’s a chance to get away from the pressures of the league campaign. It wouldn’t be the first time a team who is not doing well in the league did well in the cup.

“The Scottish is a great cup. The further you go in it the more lucrative the games become and it is great if you can be a part of that.

“A win against Shettleston would give us confidence to take back into the league games.” Progress to the fifth round will not be easy for the Bankies as they face a Shettleston side flying high in the First Division, they sit second and in a good position to be promoted to the top flight.

McGhie said: “It will be difficult Shettleston are going well, they look like a Premier League team in the making. When I was there we got to the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup one year, they haven’t really had many good cup runs since then so they’ll be hoping for one this year.” Meanwhile McGhie has indicated that he would be happy to extend Queen’s Park centre back David McWilliams’ loan deal at the Bankies, but that decision is out of his hands.

He explained: “We have him until January 21. We would be open to extending that but it would be entirely Queen’s Park’s decision, I’ll speak to Gus MacPherson closer to the time, they did us a favour by letting us have David when we were struggling with injuries.

“He’s done well since he came in, he is a player with a lot of potential.”