David Marshall’s last trip to Slovakia resulted in one of his career lows.
But the Scotland goalkeeper is now hoping that a return visit will produce a result at the other end of the scale.
Back in 2005 Marshall let in five goals against Artmedia Bratislava in a Champions League qualifier on a humiliating night for Celtic and then manager Gordon Strachan.
Another defeat – whatever the scoreline – would leave the Scots’ World Cup hopes hanging by a thread and Marshall will be doing all he can to make sure it isn’t a double dose of Slovakian misery.
“As a Celtic player and fan I don’t think there was much worse than that,” he admitted.
“I hope it is a bit better this time.
“Slovakia will be under pressure after losing on Saturday. They will be looking to bounce back.
“Hopefully we can start the game well because the first goal is going to be important.
“Hopefully we can get the three points.”
Reflecting on the Hampden draw with Lithuania that has got Scotland playing qualification catch-up after a perfect start to the campaign in Malta, Marshall said: “There is a sense of disappointment after dropping points.
“It took us time to get settled in the game.
“When they scored I thought we were creating a lot of chances and had a lot of crosses going into the box.
“Chris Martin flashed a header wide and then the goal sucker-punched us for five or 10 minutes.
“It’s international football, we had one or two chances and so did they. It comes down to the fine margins.
“The Malta result was a confidence booster. As the manager said afterwards, Tuesday is a big game and if we win it will put us right back up there.
“I think it is one of those groups. Everybody looks at Slovakia being a big challenge for second place.
“You just never know what is going to happen. They will be looking for a reaction after two defeats. We have to try and take advantage of the pressure they are under.”
The Hull City man added: “There is no reason why we can’t get a result on Tuesday if we play well.
“Maybe with the way this group is there are going to be a lot of teams taking points off each other.
“There was one game in the last campaign that hurt us.
“We just hope that the away games that people expect us to get draws in we can maybe pick up all three points, starting with Tuesday.”
