MacFarlane: We can hit Euro heights

May 18 2008 By Gordon Waddell

NEIL MacFARLANE looked around Braga's magnificent stadium, hewn into the side of a Portuguese mountain, and thought he had reached the peak of his powers.

Queen of the South's iron-man midfielder had just helped Hearts into the group stages of the UEFA Cup for the first time. Life didn't get any better.

But he reckons on Saturday it will. And by August he could be scaling an even bigger peak.

The 30-year-old said: "Getting to this cup final is definitely the best achievement of my career.

"I had great times at Hearts, playing in massive games, and even going back to Queen's Park we won a championship.

"This tops it all though. And getting into Europe via the Scottish Cup Final is almost a bigger achievement for a club like ours.

"It's where you want to be. I played for Hearts in Braga when we qualified for the UEFA group stages and it was a massive night.

"It was an amazing stadium and you felt the sense of occasion."

Meanwhile, Gordon Chisholm has warned Rangers not to expect an easy end to the toughest season in their history - because his Queens are in it to win it.

Boss Chis said: "We won't be going there thinking it's a day out.

"Despite Rangers' many internationalists it's all on the day and we will compete. My boys won't freeze or let anyone down."