Tosh: I want a night of passion

Aug 10 2008 By Gordon Waddell

STEVIE TOSH spent a career flirting with the UEFA Cup yet never putting a date in his diary. When he finally sealed the deal with Gretna it was the worst one-night stand of his life.

Now he wants one moment of glamour to top off his 15-year shift - and getting past Danish side Nordsjaelland with Queen of the South is the only way he will manage it.

As Queens prepared for Thursday's first-leg clash in Airdrie the 35-year-old said: "I was in the Livingston side that qualified for the UEFA Cup before Mr Keane decided he wanted a team of foreigners and pulled the contract from under my feet.

"I joined Aberdeen just after they went out to Hertha Berlin and when I left they qualified again.

"Raith Rovers played in the UEFA Cup before I joined and St Johnstone were in it the season after I left.

"You can see why the UEFA Cup is not my favourite tournament!

"My only experience - and I'm not sure the debacle of our 5-1 hammering by Derry City at Fir Park counts as an experience - was with Gretna.

"At leastwe regained a bit of pride with the 2-2 draw over there.

"So when I have finished playing football I don't think I'm likely to talk a lot about my UEFA Cup campaigns - unless we get past this and draw a giant likeMilan in the next round.

"The Raith Rovers guys will talk about it because they faced Bayern Munich.

"Ask people which two teams they played before that though and most will never remember itwas Gotu and Akranes.

"I'm not playing down the importance of this game to the fans or the club - I know it's huge.

"But I'd much rather be able to say I'd won another league title with Queen of the South.

"That's our priority. I was annoyed when someone made out I thought the UEFA Cup was a hindrance.

"I'm not playing it down, just trying to play up how vital the league is to us.

"We need to keep 10 per cent of the fans who came to the Scottish Cup Final and we'll only do that if we're sitting at the top end of the table and winning."