Queens move into unchartered territory

[statto]

Raith Rovers, St Johnstone, Dundee, Livingston, Dunfermline and Gretna; to that list of unfashionable teams who have represented Scotland in European competition in recent times will be added the name of Queen of the South.

The most successful year in the Dumfries club's history will be further embellished this evening in the relatively unglamorous surroundings of the Excelsior Stadium in Airdrie. Having reached their first-ever Scottish Cup final in May, when they were unfortunate to lose 3-2 to Rangers in an evenly matched encounter, tonight's match in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Cup represents another march into uncharted territory.

In FC Nordsjaelland, Queens take on opponents who, while hardly top drawer, will still be favourites to progress from the tie. The Danes only received their ticket into the European arena courtesy of UEFA's Fair Play system after finishing ninth in their league last season but, according to Gordon Chisholm, the Queens manager, will be more than capable of providing a thorough test.

Only by reaching the standards set during their 4-3 victory over Aberdeen in last season's Scottish Cup semi-final does Chisholm believe the first division club have a chance of reaching the first round proper.

"They Nordsjaelland play in the Danish Super League and are of a good quality," he said. "Coming from Scandinavia, as you'd imagine, they are big, powerful boys but they are not overly physical and have pace in the right areas. They are very patient and look to pass and keep the ball. There's no doubt it'll be a difficult game.
The real bonus would be to reach the next round and draw a silly club like AC Milan

"They've got quality players and we'll have to be on a par with how we played against Aberdeen in the semi-final if we're going to have any chance. That's the sort of standard we've got to hit.

"With it being over two legs the priority must be to keep a clean sheet. If we go out and concede soft goals by switching off against superior opposition and our concentration goes then I think they're capable of punishing us."

Unlike most of his players, Chisholm has previous experience of European football. He was the Dundee United manager when they faced MyPa of Finland in the 2005 UEFA Cup, the Scots exiting on the away goals rule after a late collapse in the home leg saw them concede twice after earning a goalless draw away from home.

Chisholm admits it was a chastening experience but one he hopes to have learnt from. "I've been in Europe before and I benefited from that experience. In MyPa we concentrated and didn't concede and when we got to Tannadice we had it in our grasp. It goes back to the two goals we lost, one was a penalty and the other someone tried to play offside. You might have got away with that in Scotland but two lapses and we were out on away goals. So for 90 minutes no-one can switch off."

European hard-luck stories were not restricted to the manager. Steve Tosh, the Queens midfielder, recalled his role in Gretna's 5-1 thrashing by Derry City at the same stage two years ago and hopes, but does not expect, his current team to approach their UEFA Cup debut in a less gung-ho manner.

"No matter how much experience we had at Gretna, we were still naive in a big way," he admitted. "For two seasons leading up to that match with Derry, it didn't matter how many goals we let in - we'd score five more. We were that used to scoring goals that, at 1-1, we were confident of more goals.

"It wasn't until we went 4-1 down that we thought S**t, we can't do it'. The fifth one went in and the tie was over. We have to guard against it this time.

"Are we more streetwise than Gretna? Probably not. The coaching staff certainly are but it might be different for the players. We're that excited we'll be like little kids on Christmas morning. Someone like Jimmy Thomson is getting the opportunity of leading out his team in a European game at the age of 37. These are special occasions. Our gameplan is to be tactically aware. But it was with Gretna as well. The Saturday before we played Derry we beat Hamilton 6-0. We probably didn't give the Irish league the respect it deserved but we will do that with the Danish league."

Should Queens progress beyond the Danes they will be unseeded in the draw for the first round. Tosh already knows who he hopes to play next should they make it.

"The real bonus would be to reach the next round and draw a silly club like AC Milan. That would top everything off and probably even eclipse Raith Rovers versus Bayern Munich.

"It's only 180 minutes, that's the thing. We'll go for a win in the first leg and see how it all ends up."