By Clive Lindsay

Santala and Fetai were both on Rangers' books

Nordsj�lland have rarely featured on the radar of British football fans, but their party will arrive in Scotland with manager Morten Wieghorst the most familiar face among several with strong UK connections.

And, while they sit bottom of the Danish Superliga and owe their Uefa Cup spot to their fair-play record, they will begin the tie against Queen of the South as favourites to progress.

The Scottish First Division club booked their debut in European competition thanks to reaching the Scottish Cup final, where they gave a good account of themselves before losing to Uefa Cup finalists Rangers.

But, while Nordsj�lland finished ninth last season and have gathered just two points from the opening four games this term, their squad contains a host of former and present Danish Under-21 internationals and several who have made the step up to full international level.

And, as Rangers were being knocked out of Champions League qualifying in Lithuania, the Danes were making no mistake against their first-round opponents from the Baltics, hammering Estonians TVMK Tallin 8-0 on aggregate.

Nordsj�lland, previously known as Farum BK, were founded in 1991 and currently play in the Danish Superliga.

They play in Farum, a town with a population of 18,000 in the northeast of the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark, 20km northwest of Copenhagen.

Their Farum Park stadium can seat 10,000 spectators.

Morten Wieghorst, now 37, started his career as a midfielder with Lyngby before leaving his homeland to join Dundee in 1992. His performances in Scotland's top flight for the Dens Park outfit led to the first of his 30 international caps and a transfer to Celtic, with whom he won the championship in 1998.

He was diagnosed with the rare brain disease Guillain-Barr� syndrome in 2000 and, after battling back to fitness in November 2001, played just twice before heading back to Denmark to join Danish champions Brondby.

Head coach Wieghorst played for Denmark, Celtic and Dundee

Wieghorst hit the headlines again when scoring four goals against Farum BK despite wearing a head bandage over a gashed eyebrow.

And, after resurrecting his international career, he received a fair play award when he deliberately missed a penalty against Iran after an opponent picked up the ball having mistaken a whistle from the crowd as the referee's.

He retired from playing in 2005 after returning from a serious knee injury to help Brondby to a league and cup double and became assistant coach with Nordsj�lland before taking over from Johnny Petersen in 2006.

Forwards Bajram Fetai and Jukka Santala will both be well known to followers of youth football at Ibrox and other Scottish clubs.

Santala, who can also play in defence, failed to make a first-team appearance with Rangers but made a big impression while on loan to Partick Thistle, scoring 11 goals in 23 appearances.

Fellow forward Fetai made only one first-team appearance for Rangers after a �200,000 move from B93 Copenhagen but played 10 games on loan to Inverness Caledonian Thistle before the Macedonia-born 22-year-old headed out of Glasgow for Silkeborg in 2006.

Bernier left German club Kaiserslautern in the summer

Issey Nakajima-Farran, who can play either on the wing or up front, came through the youth ranks at Crystal Palace before the 24-year-old Canada international moved to Japan and first arrived in the Danish Superliga with Vejle Boldklub in 2006.

Nordsj�lland this year added Andreas Dahl to their squad, a 24-year-old midfielder who failed to make a first-team appearance with Coventry City before six years with Helsingborgs.

Head coach Wieghorst has also plundered the youth ranks of former club Brondby, while his squad also contains several players who have experience with quality sides around Europe - defender Dennis Lagara (Hertha Berlin), midfielder Bo Storm (Heerenveen) and strikers Marcus Pode (Malmo) and Martin Bernburg (FC Copenhagen).

Sweden defender Benjamin Kibebe was signed recently from Aalesunds, but it is to 28-year-old Canada midfielder Patrice Bernier, who arrived in pre-season from Kaiserslautern, that Nordsj�lland will look to pull the strings at Airdrie's Excelsior Stadium on Thursday.

Bernier opened the scoring in the second leg against Tallin, Fetai set up the second of Bernburg's double, while Dahl and Pode completed the misery for the Estonians.