Scotland manager Gordon Strachan sent out a defiant and determined message ahead of tonight’s match against Wales, declaring: “Bring it on!”
Strachan will face his first competitive challenge as national coach at Hampden after taking over from Craig Levein, who signed off with successive defeats to the Welsh and Belgium last autumn.
A friendly win over Estonia at Pittodrie last month helped fill some of the gap between then and now, but the serious stuff starts this evening.
The stands will be packed full by an expectant Tartan Army, hoping for better times after the bleak Levein era.
So the pressure is on, but Strachan insisted that he can’t wait for the World Cup Group A qualifier to kick off.
“I am looking forward to it,” said Strachan, after taking training at the Scots’ Mar Hall base in Renfrewshire. “It is ‘bring it on’ time now. We have done all the work, let’s get the game on now.
“A result means we feel good about ourselves but a result and a performance means we feel very good about ourselves. But the win is what we are looking for. Results make people feel better.”
The manager added: “We talk of style and this and that, but as fans and players, we really just want to win. If we get the win and we haven’t done well then we can analyse it, but I think we look for a win all the time. We are competitive animals.”
Strachan put the emphasis on the trust he has in his players, something he believes could make all the difference tonight.
“We are going to put trust in 11 players,” he said. “I could trust 26, that’s for sure, but unfortunately I can only pick 11 and that has been hard.
“I have watched them all week and I have enjoyed their enthusiasm. It was good to stand back and watch them this morning at training. If you can’t play football any more there is nothing better than watching good players play.
“They know which way we want to play, we know which way we want to attack and defend, there are no grey areas.
“We expect the players we pick to do what they are good at, nothing more and nothing less, within a system that we have been practising all week.
“The hard bit is picking 11 but it is good to know that there are others that you can trust.”
Much of the focus from the Scottish media’s point of view this week has been on Gareth Bale, not only because he scored both goals against Scotland in their 2-1 victory in Cardiff.
Strachan acknowledged Bale was a “top player” but skirted round the tactics he will deploy to take care of that particular threat.
“From the first day I was in management, you know that no matter who you are playing against, everyone has strengths and weaknesses,” he said. “We have made people aware of where there might be danger.
“The players will tell you what we have been working on is a lot to do with what is in our dressing room.”