Match Programme: Queen of the South vs. FC Nordsjælland

As European qualifying round fixtures go, the one taking place in Airdrie tonight features two of the more obscure teams generally found at this stage of the competition - you could almost hear the collective "who?" coming from the board rooms down in Dumfries and over in Farum as the names where drawn out of the hat.

The Doonhamers' journey to Europe is a road well travelled at Inside Left, the classic story of the plucky underdogs that battled their way to inevitable defeat in the final against a glorious champion. A Scottish Cup campaign that started back in November of 2007 against Peterhead and which saw them concede only their first goal in that semi-final against Aberdeen culminated in front of a crowd of 48,000 - some 15,000 fans travelled north from Dumfries - at Hampden and a final against Rangers. Much to expectation, Rangers where ahead 2-0 by halftime and seemed to be cruising - inasmuch as that was possible for a team exhausted and demoralized having just played four games in the week leading up to the game at Hampden, including losing both the league and the UEFA Cup Final. But 15 minutes after the restart, Queen of the South where back on level terms as Tosh and Thomson scored to set up an exciting conclusion to the game. History tells us that Rangers won the game (Kris Boyd, a 72nd minute header), but Queen of the South won the hearts of the neutrals with their displays of passion and community spirit. It wasn't all bad news though for manager Gordon Chisholm. With Rangers already qualified for the Champions League on account of their second-place league finish, Queen of the South where automatic qualifiers for a place in the UEFA Cup, albeit the Qualifying rounds. Taken as a whole, it's a great achievement for a club that's finished on average 6th in the First Division since coming up as Second Division champions back in season 2001/02.

Three months on from their day at Hampden, Queen of the South lie 8th in the table, their league campaign having not quite gotten off the ground. An opening day goalless draw against Airdrie and an away defeat at Dunfermline is probably not ideal preparation for their first ever European game. They can take comfort from the fact that their opponents, FC Nordsjælland, finished ninth last season and are currently bottom of their league and that - like Manchester City - they qualified for Europe through their Fair Play ranking.  But unlike Queen of the South, the Danish side includes several players who made the national U21 squad and in Bajram Fetai and Jukka Santala they have two players who have at least some experience in Scottish football, the pair having played (however much on the periphery) for Rangers and Partick Thistle respectively before heading over to Denmark. Manager Morten Wieghorst is a familiar name in Scotland having played with Dundee and Celtic in the early 90's, so he'll at least have some idea of the sort of game to expect tonight - physical and non-stop.

Queen of the South revive their role as underdog in the game tonight (held at Airdrie United's Broomfield, as Queens own ground Palmerston does not comply with UEFA standards). A position of strength possibly? Well, no one expected them to beat Aberdeen or do as well as they did against Rangers, both arguably stronger sides than their opponents tonight. It's up to Wieghorst and Nordsjælland side to produce a result to take back to Denmark, and it's up to Chisholm to motivate his side to put a disappointing league start behind them and fight to make the most of their time in Europe because, like waiting for a bus home on a rainy night, God only knows when it'll come along again.

Queen of the South vs. FC Nordsjælland
UEFA Cup Qualifying Round,  First Leg,
New Broomfield, Airdrie, KO 19:45