The dream start of a fourth-minute Shane Duffy goal gave way to something more like a prolonged nightmare for Martin O’Neill’s team in Tbilisi on Saturday, as an abject performance and a third successive draw in qualifying put a significant dent in Ireland’s World Cup ambitions ahead of the crunch meeting with Serbia tomorrow night.

Georgia 2 Scotland 0

Darren Fletcher returns as expected to a much-changed Scotland side for their Euro 2008 qualifier against Georgia in the Boris Paichadze national stadium in Tbilisi tonight.