Queensland Reds have "no more excuses" when they host the Lions at Suncorp Stadium on Friday, James Slipper says in conceding fans' expectations will have risen with the return from injury of Quade Cooper, James O'Connor, Lachie Turner, Samu Kerevi and forwards Greg Holmes and Ben Daley.

"When any team welcomes back the players that we have, the expectation goes up," he said.

"You could possibly say there's no more excuses for us.

"Going into this game we're pretty confident with how we want to play, it's a matter of getting it done on the field now.

"We've known how we wanted to play for weeks but we haven't been able to do it. We've got to start performing, and we understand that as a playing group."

The Reds have disappointed this season © Getty Images

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The Reds have made a miserable 1-4 win-loss start to the Super Rugby season, but Slipper is wary of the team leaning too heavily on the likes of Wallabies five eighth Cooper, who will be playing his first match of the season after recovering from a broken collar-bone.

"It's unfair to rest your hopes on a couple of injured blokes coming back in who obviously haven't played a lot of football this year," he said. "It's about everyone looking at their own game and making sure we come back a better outfit, individually, across the whole squad."

Slipper said Queensland had identified their home match against the Lions as one they should win - and the Richard Graham-coached side cannot afford to lose if they are is to make anything of their season.

But victory won't come easily against "a tough team - a typical big African side" after they overcame a 13-0 deficit to defeat Melbourne Rebels 20-16 at AAMI Park last week. That was their second win on tour, following a 13-10 triumph over the struggling Blues in New Zealand a fortnight ago.

"They will chance their arm … they will play with the ball, especially out of their own half. They're a team that tends to stick in the game for the whole 80 minutes and at times comes out with really great results."