Queen of the South boss Gary Naysmith will try to outfox a man he still calls gaffer in Sunday's William Hill Scottish Cup last-16 tie against Aberdeen.

The former Scotland full-back was released by Derek McInnes in May 2013, soon after he took over as boss at Pittodrie.

Naysmith, 40, harbours no ill-feeling towards his former manager and indeed sung his praises as he prepared his Championship side for the trip to the Granite City.

"I worked under Derek for three or four months when he first came into Aberdeen," he said.

"I liked everything he was trying to do at the club even though he released me at the end of it.

"I understood that. He wanted to take the team in a different direction, he wanted energy and youthfulness into the team but I thoroughly enjoyed working under him.

"I have kept in touch with him since then, I still refer to him on the phone as gaffer as I do with most people I have worked under and respected.

"When someone is your gaffer you find it hard to call them by their first name.

"He is a tireless worker. I know he won't underestimate us.

"He will have watched our last five or six games, he will know our weaknesses and strengths, that makes it doubly difficult to get one over them but we will try our best."

The Doonhamers knocked out Ladbrokes Premiership side Dundee in the previous round after a replay and Naysmith insists his side are not travelling north again just "to make up the numbers."

The former Hearts and Everton defender said: "Aberdeen are back where they belong, one of the top teams in Scotland.

"If they don't get to semi-finals and finals of cups then they see that as they have underachieved and that is the mentality they were used to in the 1980s under Sir Alex Ferguson.

"It is going to be a really hard game for us.

"But we are not going up there just hoping for the best or just as a day out – that is for the fans – we have to be disciplined and work hard as we have for the majority of the season.

"We need to put our best performance of the season, that is the pressure on us, against the best team we have faced, and if we do that and get some lady luck you never know."