Scotland confident of Tbilisi triumph

SCOTLAND manager Alex McLeish claims his players have every right to be confident ahead of tonight’s crunch qualifier in Georgia and insists they will not be caught up in the sort of hysteria which surrounded the ill-fated 1978 World Cup campaign under Ally MacLeod.

With two games remaining in their Euro 2008 campaign, the Scots are four points away from guaranteeing a place in the finals of a major tournament for the first time since 1998.

Amid all the unprecedented hype which surrounded the 1978 World Cup, MacLeod had promised the country he would come back with a medal, a claim which backfired on him spectacularly after Scotland failed to escape from the group.