Gary McAllister believes Scotland can defy the odds and secure a win over England at Wembley next month.
The former national team captain is well aware Gordon Strachan’s men will be the underdogs when they head south of the border for the return of the famous fixture.
But he insists there is no reason for the Scots to be daunted by the task on August 14 and says they have every chance of returning with a positive result.
“We can go there with a swagger,” said McAllister.
“In a big arena like Wembley, you need people to be able to stand up and be counted and look to get themselves on the ball.
“I think that’s what we’ve got. I think we’ve got people who are comfortable in possession.
“Our game is going to revolve around a possession game so the more people we’ve got on that pitch looking for the ball and looking to get touches, the better.
“We have got people who are comfortable in possession with the ball and that’s what you need in big arenas.
“I don’t think there will ever be a day when we are not underdogs against England, purely because of the numbers.
“We’ve only got five million people compared to 50 million or 60 million. But that stat hasn’t stood up in the past.
“Any time these countries meet, we’ve got a fighting chance. The last game we played there, we won.”
Scotland’s confidence will be boosted by their shock World Cup qualifying victory over top seeds Croatia in Zagreb last month.
McAllister added: “It was unexpected but I’ve got to say I didn’t think it was a fluke. You can go away from home and get bodies behind the ball and scrape a 1-0 by a fluke goal.
“But my view of the game was that we played some good football and deserved to win. This group is gone so we just have to take the positives.
“Forget what’s happened in the past and just take the good bits from the Croatia game to Wembley and take it to the qualifiers in September and October.”
The match at Wembley will bring back memories of McAllister’s penalty miss against England at Euro 96.
He said: “People will always associate me with the missed penalty at Wembley. Unfortunately, as a penalty-kick taker, you miss penalties.
“It’s pretty apparent that the ball did move quite a lot and that did play a part, but I’m not making excuses.”
McAllister was at Hampden yesterday to help launch BT Sport’s coverage of Scottish football this season, which will see him take on the role of co-commentator.
The first live match will be Friday’s clash between newly-promoted Partick Thistle and Dundee United.
Some fans are unhappy with the Friday night scheduling of matches and Marc Watson, chief executive of BT Retail, said they were keen to strike a balance.
He said: “We will work with the clubs, the league and the fans when deciding what kick-off times we go for.
“It’s very hard to please everybody but we will try to get the balance right between getting good vibrant stadiums with lots of people and being able to broadcast at times that suit viewers too.
“We know there are some issues out there but we really think there is a great story ahead for Scottish football and we look forward to being part of it.”