Matt Ritchie has admitted that it will be a bitter blow if Scotland are the only home nation not to qualify for Euro 2016.
The Scots face Poland at Hampden tomorrow night in a vital Group D qualifier against Poland and will be trying to keep their hopes of reaching the fin als in France alive with a win.
Should the Poles triumph, however, then it will be game over for Gordon Strachan’s team.
That will mean the players, management, fans and the Scottish general public will have to suffer as the other United Kingdom sides – England, Wales and Nothern Ireland – strut their stuff next summer.
The English have already qualified, the Welsh are all but arithmetically there, while the Northern Irish are just one win away from making it and have Group F strugglers Greece heading to Windsor Park this week.
The Scots can make it a British full house by first beating the Poles and then seeing off Gibraltar in Portugal on Sunday to earn a play-off place as the third-placed side in Group D.
While the task against the minnows from rock should be straightforward, it is a huge challenge to try to overcome Robert Lewandowski and his Polish pals.
That is what must happen, though, if reaching the finals is to remain a realistic possibility.
Asked how agonising it would be to be the only UK side not to be heading over the English Channel, Ritchie said: “That would be a bit of a sucker-punch but we will train hard this week, prepare well and we are positive that we can get three points against Poland.
“Of course it would be disappointing but there is no point looking that far forward because we have still got a chance of qualifying.
“This group has been proven to be very tight.
“The main thing is that we are on the money against Poland and get the three points that will give us every chance.
“International football is a huge stage and to get to the Euros would be unbelievable.
“So we need to make sure we do our jobs on Thursday.”
The Bournemouth wide man has had a mixed time of it in a Scotland jersey of late.
He scored the winner against Qatar in the friendly at Easter Road in early June only to be taken off at half-time during the away draw against the Republic of Ireland that followed that game.
Ritchie was back on the bench for the home mathc against Germany last month, coming on for the last 10 minutes as a replacement for skipper Scott Brown.
Should he be seelcted to play against Poland, he is determined to acll upon his experience of playing in the English Premier League and a host of top stars for the newly-promoted Cherries.
“If I’m involved then I will be looking to perform well and bring something to the game,” said Ritchie.
“Playing against the best players week in, week out is only going to improve individuals and I feel like I have improved.
“Hopefully, now that can show in my performances in Scotland.”
Ritchie was then asked if being substituted by Strachan in the Irish game came as a major blow.
He replied: “No, not really.
“The manager made a decision to take me off and I respect that.
“The game didn’t quite pan out how we thought it might have done.
“It was quite a scrappy game and we didn’t really pass the ball the way that we prepared to.
“The manager made his decision and Kech (Ikechi Anya) came on, had a great impact on the game and we got a point. I have no qualms about that.
“It wasn’t free-flowing football and sometimes in those situations you have to dig in and do your work off the ball.
“I felt like I did that so I wasn’t too disappointed.
“I would like to have had more of an impact on the games I have played.
“It’s early days, though, and hopefully I’ve got a long international career ahead of me and I can be involved in a lot of matches for Scotland.
“The best is still to come from me – absolutely.”