Playing against somebody can blind you to how good they are so being on the same side allowed Rocco Quinn see the special talents of James McCarthy.

Now that loanee Rocco Quinn has seen James McCarthy up close he firmly believes he will play at the highest level. McCarthy was the mastermind behind Hamilton's 2-1 Homecoming Scottish Cup win over Dundee United. The young talent showed his class again on Saturday to win the man-of-the-match award performance which helped Accies seal their place in the quarter-finals for only the second time since in 42 years. McCarthy set up Chris Swailes for the equaliser after Danny Grainger had put United ahead. Swailes secured victory when he got his second but that was not enough to outshine McCarthy who earned most of the praise. Quinn said: "It's thoroughly deserved. I've played against him and knew what a good player he was. But coming here and training with him every day, I've seen just what a fantastic talent he is. The world is his oyster. The boy can go right to the top." Unfortunately, once again, McCarthy was singled out for abuse from the travelling United fans but Quinn went on: "I don't think he is the type who lets that get to him. If the fans want to sing, they can sing. It's not going to affect his game."

Swailes scored twice within the opening 10 minutes of the second half and Accies survived a late onslaught to hold onto their narrow win. Quinn said: "I actually think the first one was coming to me and Chris took it off me - so I'm not too happy about that! But it was a great finish and I thought he was going to get his hat-trick too. Lucky he didn't or he would have been boasting about it in the dressing room." Hamilton have now recorded six wins on the run but Quinn insists everyone at New Douglas Park has their feet firmly on the ground. He said: "We are just taking it one game at a time and not getting too carried away. There are a lot of games left this season so the important thing is just to keep doing what we are doing. I'm delighted, this was a fantastic victory for us. The dressing room is absolutely buzzing - an all-round great day."

Lee Wilkie could have secured a replay for United with a header in stoppage time but manager Craig Levein had no real complaints about his side's performance. He said: "We played all right in the first half and might have had a second goal and probably should have got a second goal. I'm not too disappointed in the way we played. Sometimes in games, fine lines decide the outcome of matches. We didn't defend particularly well at the second Hamilton goal, although for the first one I should probably credit the young boy McCarthy with a great bit of skill on the wide area. Wilkie probably had the best chance of the match, a header from six yards with the goalie going the wrong way and it's hit his heel. These things decide the outcome of matches."
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