Scotland face dramatic night at Hampden with World Cup qualification within reach

Steve Clarke revealed last week that one of his favourite sayings to his players is that they should “play with the anticipation of success and not the fear of failure”.

From the evidence of the World Cup campaign so far, for the Tartan Army to anticipate anything is just to invite surprise.

A short and intense group stage has so far already delivered: a strong start in the shape of an away draw in Denmark; a competent win over Belarus with no fans in attendance; a bizarre double-header where poor performances against Greece and Belarus brought boos, criticism… and maximum points, followed by a penultimate match in Athens where a fightback against the Greeks couldn’t bring the point it was assumed was essential.

When news filtered through that Denmark had drawn at home to bottom seeds Belarus and automatic qualification was still possible, it felt like a stroke of divine intervention.

After that good fortune, there are only two possible outcomes for Clarke and his Scotland players on Tuesday. Fail to win and the gruelling task of getting through the play-offs await, with a semi-final and potential final against tough opposition in March deciding the team’s fate. Anticipate months of tension in that scenario.

Defeat the Danes, and the decades-long wait for a return to the World Cup finals would be over. Anticipate wild scenes. Anticipate partying. Anticipate at least a little bit of disbelief from fans who had seen their team trailing 3-0 to Greece just a few days previously.

Speaking to the media ahead of Tuesday’s monumental clash at the national stadium, Clarke was his usual calm self, stating that he always believed it would come down to this final game. He insists his players are in the right frame of mind, and that adjustments made to the schedule have lessened the impact of the trip to Greece.

Only Napoli midfielder Billy Gilmour is unavailable from the squad Clarke named two weeks ago, and the head coach believes he has a group capable of delivering what’s needed, if they play as well as they can.

Over the campaign as a whole, even Clarke would admit the team have rarely come even close to playing to their full potential, but they remain in with a strong chance. Denmark were seen as clear group favourites from the moment the draw was made but couldn’t defeat Scotland in Copenhagen and have now been rocked by a draw against the group whipping boys just when a ticket to North America seemed to be in their hands. News of a sickness bug in the opposition camp only adds to the feeling that fortune might be favouring Scotland.

Clarke insists the Danes will only be more motivated to make up for Saturday’s lapse but he sees a determination in his own squad and says they are “ready to go”.

On Saturday night he looked ahead to Tuesday’s clash and said that his side would need the full backing of the Tartan Army from the first minute at Hampden and returned to his refrain about “the anticipation of success”.

“I’m going to ask the Hampden crowd to do that on Tuesday night. We need them from the first minute to be with us and in the difficult moments in the game to be especially with us because that’s what this group of players deserve.

“If they get that, I’m pretty sure we can do something special.”

The former Kilmarnock boss has already ended a long exile from major tournaments by delivering back-to-back Euros but this intense campaign, which only began on September 5, has the potential to define his time in charge with a glorious moment if Scotland can take three points.

After a rollercoaster five matches so far, there’s no reason to think the final act will be anything like plain sailing. Anticipate nerves. Anticipate drama.