IT hardly holds claim to being a cup graveyard, but Dundee United won't be relishing their trip to Palmerston Park today in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup.

Queen of the South have met top-f light opposition four times in three seasons and history suggests they are due an upset.

Hope sprang eternal after a 0-0 home draw with Aberdeen in January 2003, but a 4-1 defeat in the replay at Pittodrie was an emphatic bursting of their bubble. The 3-2 loss to Motherwell in the fourth round last season was another closerun contest, but manager Iain Scott insists they have learned their lesson.

"We've been caught like rabbits in the headlights and then came storming back, " says the man who took over from John Connolly in the summer after four years as his assistant.

"Against Motherwell we pulled it back to 2-2 but by then it was too late. Since I've been here over the past five years we have conceded 13 goals [against Premierleague sides in Cup competitions], nine of which have been in the first 20 minutes. I think we've learned from our past experiences."

Scott is negotiating his own management learning curve in a quietly impressive fashion.

The club's progress under Connolly has been sustained and they sit sixth in the first division, on course to match their fifth-placed finishes of the past two campaigns.

Given that they are the only part-time club in the division, they are punching above their weight, but the Dumfries club have big plans. This week they announced a pounds-5m scheme to increase the capacity of Palmerston to more than 6000.

On the field, they are similarly ambitious. Scott said:

"The stadium redevelopment is the first move off the field. The other step is to go full-time. If they get the stands up and bring in quality players then it will make it more attractive for the fans to come along."

Scott has not been slow to put his stamp on the squad.

Derek Lyle returned to Palmerston and has scored seven goals in the last 10 games, while Alex Williams will provide more firepower after joining on loan from Morton last month.

It was the transfer window acquisition of Livingston captain Stuart Lovell, though, which raised the eyebrows.

"We've got quite a young midfield and we're hoping that some of Lovell's experience can rub off on them."

On paper, there has never been a better time for pulling off an upset. Dundee United were hammered 7-1 by Rangers in Wednesday's CIS Cup semifinal and Ian McCall's job is hanging by a thread. Reports suggest that nothing more than a convincing win will suffice if he is to stay in place.

However, Scott argues:

"McCall's a winner. He did an excellent job at Falkirk and his teams play football in the right manner. His pedigree in management is unquestioned. It's going against him at the moment, but he's a local boy and he'll want to come back here and show what kind of team he's built."