Scotland’s strikers will probably be hoping to fill their boots against Gibraltar on Sunday, but Steven Fletcher is just determined to grab at least one.
No player has netted a hat-trick for Scotland since Colin Stein scored four goals in a 8-0 World Cup qualifying win over Cyprus in May 1979.
And with most of the other teams in Group D netting a few against the group’s minnows, the members of Scotland’s current frontline could well be forgiven for looking to rewrite history on the hat-trick front.
Fletcher though is just keen to add to his Scotland tally, having failed to score for his country since a 2-1 win over Iceland six years ago.
He was denied that opportunity despite several chances against Northern Ireland last night, but that has not shaken his desire to get back among Scotland’s goal scorers sooner rather than later.
“I’m looking to get back on the score sheet as soon as possible,” he said.
“It’s been a while.
“For me tonight was just about getting some minutes under my belt.
“I’ve not played too much this year so it feels good to get back out there.
“It doesn’t prey on my mind.
“If I wasn’t getting chances, I’d be complaining but I’m getting them so I just need to start taking them.
“So I need to get a goal just now never mind a hat-trick.
“Listen, if we get the opportunities on Sunday hopefully we can take them.
“If that means one of us getting a few then great.
“First and foremost, we just want to get the goals that give us a win and push up the table.”
Fletcher was obviously happy that Scotland go into Sunday’s game on the back of another win to keep the nation’s momentum going.
“There’s another big game on Sunday which we are all looking forward to,” he added.
“If we’d got an earlier goal, it would have been a bit more comfortable but at least we got one. It’s good.
“We could have been ahead earlier.
“We’d a few chances in the first half I’d a few myself.
“I’m going to blame the goalie for the one I missed and not myself.
“In fairness, he pulled off a few good saves although it was frustrating we never got the goal before we did.
“But the win keeps us going for the weekend.
“Both teams obviously had one eye on the games that really matter at the weekend.
“You could see that with the changes that were made.
“Both managers wanted to keep everyone’s legs fresh.
“Both nations have got two big games coming.
“It was good preparation for Sunday.
“A few of the boys like myself having been playing too much football so it was good to get a few minutes.”
While most of the country will be expecting a cricket score on Sunday, Fletcher is keen to stress that the team’s mindset has to be right going into that fixture.
And he revealed: “We’re not going in there thinking we’re going to run them into the ground.
“We just want to put on a performance that the gaffer sets us out to do and if we do that hopefully we can get the win.
“Goal difference doesn’t matter against them but it will matter in terms of confidence.
“We’ve got a massive game against Ireland in the summer so if we can get a win and a few goals it will be happy days.”