Stand-in skipper James Slipper insists there’ll be no hangover from the British and Irish Lions series as the Queensland Reds chase a Super Rugby home qualifying final with victory over the NSW Waratahs on Saturday night.

Slipper has been promoted to captain the Reds in the crucial interstate derby in the absence of injured leaders James Horwill and Will Genia.

Along with hooker Saia Faingaa, the Test prop will be backing up after featuring in the Wallabies squad during the draining series with the touring Lions.

But with the stakes high for the Reds, Slipper is confident there’ll be no emotional dip at ANZ Stadium.

“Coming back in at the start of the week, the first thing I picked up on was how motivated and excited the boys were to rip in,” he said.

“If you ask any Queenslander, it’s a game anyone’s going to get up for.

“It’s a big game and everyone loves playing for Queensland. There’s not too many things that can un-motivate a player, so every time we put on a Reds jersey we go out there and try and win the game.

“Obviously we want to gain momentum going into the finals.”

Set for his 50th game for the Reds, Slipper regains the captaincy role he held during the opening month of the competition with Reds coaching boss – and newly-appointed Test coach – Ewen McKenzie opting not to risk Wallabies captain Horwill (calf) or vice-captain Genia (knee and hand) ahead of next weekend’s start of the Super Rugby finals series.

“This is a very important game for us, but we’ve got other guys who can play,” McKenzie said.

“I said right back at the start, there’s no point going out there and playing guys who are 70 per cent fit.

“We’ve got good players and we’ll invest in them.

“We know we’ve got to play next week. We don’t know where. If I can rest and get Will and James and Chipper (James Hanson) – those guys who have had a pretty heavy workload the last few weeks – back at 100 per cent, then that’s going to be a big help for us next week.”

In Horwill’s absence, Ed O’Donoghue will partner Rob Simmons in the second row.

Nick Frisby gets his second straight opportunity at halfback in place of Genia, having starred in Queensland’s tour match against The British and Irish Lions in June.

He will combine with flyhalf Quade Cooper while goalkicker Mike Harris has recovered from an ankle injury to win his first starting opportunity since round five alongside Ben Tapuai in the centres.