Strachan’s Scots upbeat as Ireland come calling

An impressive start to their Euro 2016 campaign has heightened talk of Scotland’s first qualification for a major tournament since 1998, a route they can shuttle towards by beating Ireland at Parkhead.

With two of three most difficult away tests — against Germany and Poland — ticked off, Gordon Strachan’s squad and staff are devoting scant concern to the three-point buffer generated by the Poles and Ireland in the Group D table.

That they host Martin O’Neill’s resurgent Ireland in their next assignment on their home turf invigorates the Scots, even if they’re not treating the clash of the Celtic cousins as a campaign-defining fixture.