Gordon Strachan insists Scotland have prepared as thoroughly for the game against little Gibraltar as they did the clash against mighty Germany.
The Scots welcome the sons of the rock to Hampden tomorrow night for a Euro 2016 Group D qualifier that the world and his wife expect them to win with ease.
The contrast between this fixture and the opening match of the campaign in Dortmund back on September 7 is probably as stark as it gets in international football.
This is the one on the schedule that is seen as a gimme, while not even the most optimistic of Tartan Army soldiers was expecting too much from that away match against Thomas Muller and his all-conquering colleagues, who were not long back from winning the World Cup in Brazil.
As it was, Scotland turned in an excellent performance in defeat at the Westfalenstadion, with Muller’s double edging Ikechi Anya’s wonderful breakaway goal for Strachan’s side.
The Scots boss has been careful not to sound presumptuous ahead of the visit of Gibraltar and he has also made sure that his players won’t think it’s just a matter of turning up tomorrow.
“We want to make sure we do not to patronise anybody or disrespect them,” said Strachan.
“We try to get a nice balance.
“I think I have managed it so far.
“That’s what we tried to set out to do, to make sure that the team is set out properly and I do my job properly as well – on and off the field.
“There are a lot of teams who have had games like this and found it difficult, while other teams have found it a lot easier.
“Circumstances can be important.
“You could get a wee bit of luck in front of goal early in the game or you could come up against people who are inspired, like the goalkeeper.
“That can happen so you never know.
“When I think about the way we have trained and the hours we have put in, I would say we have put in as many hours on Gibraltar as we did on the Germany game.”
Some fans may be expecting the proverbial barrowload of goals from his team but Strachan isn’t going to play that game.
He said: “If people get excited, it’s people getting excited.
“We lose our inhibitions when we come into a football ground. We all become different animals.
“We will relax when the game starts and we go for it.
“Let’s just understand what can happen. Germany only scored four goals (against Gibraltar) and I am sure Germany would have liked a bit more.”
One thing that looks like being different compared to the previous qualifying matches is the formation.
Strachan is, respectfully, considering a more attacking line-up against international football’s rookies.
Asked if he if he will be changing things around tomorrow, Strachan replied: “I think so, aye.
“We put a lot of thought into what we should do.
“We never get far from what we have done so far, with the players we’ve got.
“There are one or two wee things I would like to do, though.
“It’s funny because I thought we didn’t get enough people into the box during the (Northern Ireland) game the other night but when we watched all the crosses again on video we did. It is just that we are not physically that big.
“Also, somebody was asking about Steven Fletcher but if there is no one getting around him, moving the back four about, that can be a problem for a main striker.
“You have to have people in there moving other defenders. That’s maybe something we can work on.”
Strachan will tell the players the team selection today, refusing to make his mind up before then.
He explained: “I think it’s just to make sure I give everybody the same time and attention.
“I used to feel when I was a player that you knew by how long you spent defending against moves that it wasn’t going to be you.
“But because they have done so well part of it is that I like to keep my options open until the point where I have to pick a team.
“You want to give them all the same time and attention so that they feel part of it.”
While at pains not to patronise the opposition, Strachan nevertheless feels it is important that Scotland take the game by the scruff of the neck from the first whistle.
He said: “I enjoyed the tempo in the first half an hour against Northern Ireland until the crowd, ourselves and the game kind of went into a friendly mode for half an hour.
“It is important to get a high tempo, whether you get your breakthrough early all depends on circumstances.
“Hopefully, we can then ask questions of Gibraltar.
“Are they good enough to take it? Are they good enough to stop us?”