Not only are Scotland just one game away from qualification for the European Championships they are also now just one game away from taking a significant step closer to the World Cup as well.
Steve Clarke’s side secured a fine win against the Czech Republic at Hampden Park and in so doing, they extended their unbeaten run to eight games for the first time since 1988 and also kept their four-point lead at the top of their Nations League group intact.
The path to Qatar 2022 is a complicated one but it would be highly unlikely that the Scots wouldn’t be in the play-offs if they stay in that first spot in pool B2.
And to do that they now only need one win from the trips to Slovakia and Israel.
Ryan Fraser scored early and it took the committed defending that has been a watermark of this team in the last couple of weeks to preserve the 1-0 victory.
Captain John McGinn said: “It was a brilliant win.
“I think the first half was probably the best and most confident Scotland team I’ve seen in a while.
“It’s been a really tough 10 days, with the Israel game going to extra-time and then the efforts of the other night (against Slovakia).
“But we showed great character.
“Guys like Andy (Considine) and Paul (Hanlon) came into the squad when they weren’t named in it initially and they were great.
“We battled hard and now Scottish players have the chance to be successful.”
Three clean-sheets in a row when it was really needed has almost been as impressive as eight games without losing.
“The first thing we had to sort out was keeping clean-sheets,” McGinn added.
“We were letting too many goals in.
“We’ve also got players that can hurt teams. Lyndon (Dykes) was brilliant and Ryan (Fraser) has been different class.
“We’ve got confidence going into the Serbia game.”