GUS MacPHERSON is hoping Hampden’s home comforts can tip the League Two title balance in Queen’s Park’s favour.

The Spiders will play their first full campaign at their iconic Glasgow venue for three years following a two-season absence due to the Commonwealth Games.

After a year playing at Airdrie’s Excelsior stadium, QP returned in January to their spiritual home and went on to only lose two games out of 11 games.

That Hampden form helped hoist Queen’s Park up to within touching distance of promotion, only form them to fall just short in a play-off against Stenhousemuir.

But now they are gearing up for an uninterrupted season back home, MacPherson is confident the familiar and inspirational surroundings will help give his men an edge to go one step further.

He said: “It’s a great opportunity to play at Hampden.

“It’s a fabulous arena to be plying your trade in twice a month, not to mention the training facilities we have at Lesser Hampden, too.

“I think the players will feel the benefit of being at Hampden for the start of this season after a spell at Airdrie.

“You never want your players to relax, though. You always ask them to challenge themselves.

“That’s the question for them now. Can you maintain the standards that were set last season which were extremely high?

“But certainly being back at Hampden can only benefit and inspire the players.”

Queen’s Park received plaudits throughout the game last year for their style and approach that almost earned them promotion.

They were perhaps one of Scottish football’s surprise packages given the high turnover in players MacPherson had to cope with.

However, to succeed this season, the Hampden manager believes an even greater effort will be needed to haul his team out of the bottom tier.

“It was very, very frustrating last season,” MacPherson explained.

“Some people say we overachieved but I think we were quietly confident for the majority of the campaign of what we could achieve.

“We will be a target now for a lot of clubs considering what we did do last year.

“We need to take care of our own business. Because we’ve kept so many players they understand how we work and how we want them to work.

“We can’t become complacent. If anything, we need to work even harder to achieve what we want to.”

There is an acceptance, despite 15 players from last campaign sticking around, that holding on to talent at Queen’s is becoming an increasingly difficult task.

Given the circumstances at the club and the potential financial rewards that may be available elsewhere, MacPherson acknowledges it is to the credit of those still with the Spiders that they are showing their commitment to the cause.

He said: “I hope it helps. There were two or three players who had the opportunity to go elsewhere but I think because of the team spirit we had they decided to stay.

“Every club, no matter what division, has to let go of last season and we are gearing towards the new campaign.

“It’s always difficult bringing players in because there are opportunities now to go into the Junior ranks and earn good money which is probably comparable to a lot of League Two clubs.

“But we always believe that if a boy hasn’t had the opportunity to play Senior football then we can give them that platform. The same applies to someone who may be looking to get back in.”