Scotland dreaming of possibilities again as true burden of the Tartan Army laid bare

The conversation still centred around figures and statistics as Friday night gave way to Saturday morning. This time, though, the numbers were being crunched more optimistically. No longer simply an update on Scotland’s long winless streak – much of the year has been spent extending the matches and months since a competitive victory - the mood switched dramatically in the aftermath of beating Croatia, thanks to McGinn’s late deflected strike, to one of renewed hope and belief.

Perhaps that is the true burden that the Tartan Army carry. For there can’t be a nation anywhere else on earth so willing to get carried away on the back of the slightest positive development, even one victory carved out after a first half spent under the cosh before the red card arrived that changed the game and, an hour later, the mood of an entire country.

In an instant, the debate about the team’s decline and whether Steve Clarke was still the man to lead it was forgotten. Now Nations League rules and league tables were being consulted with all the thoroughness of a forensic team arriving at a murder scene. From the prior resigned acceptance that Scotland would be relegated from League A without a competitive victory to their name all year, now a possible alternative outcome was emerging and Scotland fans were not slow to get behind it.

Could we yet finish second in the group, earn a Nations League quarter-final spot and, remarkably, a place among the top seeds for the World Cup draw? This was all giddy stuff although, in the cold light of morning, not as straightforward as it seemed to many on Friday night as the euphoria of finally seeing Scotland win again went straight to their heads.

First of all, Clarke’s players now need to go to Poland and win if they are to stave off relegation. Even a draw wouldn’t be enough given the Poles’ win at Hampden at the start of this tumultuous campaign that gives them the edge in the head-to-head comparisons.

A victory in Warsaw would guarantee at least a relegation play-off in March against one of the second-placed Nations League B teams, but only a simultaneous Portugal win over Croatia in Split would keep all those other dreamed-of targets on the table. It’s a big ask but, after months of relentless misery, few could blame the Scotland supporters for electing to seize upon the rare chance to focus on something positive.

Not that the Scotland players were getting carried away, of course. Professional athletes have an innate ability to keep grounded while everyone else is espousing speculative scenarios, the overriding emotion instead something more prosaic.

“I think it was a bit of relief as it had been so long since getting a win,” as Ryan Gauld conveyed the mood in the dressing room at full-time. “Just getting over the line, maybe not in the prettiest way, but getting the job done and being in with a fighting chance of still staying in the top group.”

There was an undoubted irony that Scotland had finally won a game with one of their poorer recent performances, in the first half especially when Croatia had dominated until they had Petar Sucic sent off just before half-time. But given better displays earlier in the campaign had gone unrewarded, it was nice to see the tables finally turn.

“We’ve managed to grind out a win in the end,” said Craig Gordon who became the country’s fifth-most capped player after picking up number 78. “It wasn’t always pretty. I don’t think it was our best performance in the group. I think we've played better and lost matches. But it’s about winning.”

It was an achievement forged both out of robust, often unconventional, defending and a relentless commitment to attack. This was a second clean sheet in succession after also rebuffing Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal in the previous Hampden outing, a sign that a backline featuring a 41-year-old goalkeeper and Celtic’s second-choice right-back was starting to click.

“Two clean sheets is a good record,” confirmed Gordon. “We need to try and keep that going. It’s important we defend well because goals are difficult to come by at this level. It’s a really big test to score more than one goal. We've done it a few times and still not managed to get the win. Defensively, it needs to remain that way.”

Goalscorers tend to hog the headlines but one first-half save from Gordon, when he twisted his body to somehow get a toe to a goalbound shot, was just as important.

“The guy’s cut inside and the ball’s come through Soapy’s (John Souttar) legs,” he recalled. “That's always the most difficult for a goalkeeper. Just as well I’m only 6ft 5. I managed to stretch out a long leg and the end of my big toe managed to slip it wide.”

An attack that grew in confidence the longer the game wore on was led by Ben Doak who tormented Josko Gvardiol down Scotland’s right in a virtuoso man-of-the-match performance.

“His pace is scary,” confirmed Lyndon Dykes, part of a second-half triple substitution that gave Scotland vital late impetus. “The experienced boys here have got him under their arm and he's learning every day at training and working really hard. I'm sure he's going to have a great Scotland career.”

The feelgood factor around the team could easily dissipate with a defeat in Warsaw tomorrow night but, finally, Scotland has earned the right to be optimistic once more.

“We've managed to get the first win in a while,” added Gordon. “And we want to try and back that up now. There will be a lot of talk of what the possibilities are in terms of the group. But we still need to win the match and see where that takes us.”