CHRIS Higgins, the Queen of the South captain, is happy that the football world is paying the Dumfries side scant attention ahead of Sunday’s Championship meeting with Rangers. Twice last season the Doonhamers took the scalp of the Ibrox side on the artificial surface at Palmerston prior to giving them an almighty scare in the Premiership quarter finals. While a blemish-free start to their campaign has seen Mark Warburton’s Rangers side garnering plaudits aplenty, James Fowler’s reshaped side have quietly won all of their three league games themselves and can be relied upon to put up stubborn resistance in tomorrow’s live TV match.

“Rangers are a huge club and Queens are a lot smaller, to put it nicely, so we’re happy to be flying under the radar, to keep plodding along and make sure we’re at the top end of the league,” said Higgins. “It’s a transitional period for us because a lot of the players who have done well for the club have moved up to the Premiership. But we’re quite happy to keep doing what we’re doing. We know within ourselves that we have a good squad. We can go in with confidence because of our place in the league.”

Mark Durnan, Kevin Holt, Ian McShane, Danny Carmichael and Gavin Reilly all made the step up this summer even as Queens stayed down, but the existing core of veteran pros such as Higgins, Derek Lyle, Iain Russell and Andy Dowie has been augmented by the arrival of players such as Kyle Hutton, from tomorrow’s opponents Rangers, and Kyle Jacobs from Livingston. While Queens have exited both cups to Livingston and Morton, it is so far so good in the league.

Tomorrow, though, is a different proposition. Not only do Rangers employ a relentless passing, attacking style this season but Higgins’ old pal Nicky Clark, formerly a Queen of the South player, informs him that everything right up to the choices on the Murray Park menu have been transformed.

“I still keep in touch with Nicky Clark and he only has good things to say,” said Higgins. “He said that everything – down to the food on offer at lunch at Murray Park – has changed. Nicky obviously wants to be playing, but even when he isn’t he’s still happy and the general atmosphere in there seems to be a lot different than it was last season. They won 5-0 against Airdrie and they are destroying teams just now.

“But it’s our home game, and it’s especially important after the result the other night against Morton,” he added. “It’s an easy one to get up for because we know we need to bounce back. It’s our home game so hopefully we can get the three points.”