Key events
Pre-match postbag, courtesy of our reader. “Fingers crossed this won’t end up in Caledonia v Macedonia anhedonia” – Peter Oh
“Obligatory Bowie joke: it’s too bad Bowie isn’t starting because the gaffer has made ch- ch- changes” – Peter Oh
“Can I just say that the two national flags on display today are fantastic together? The juxtaposition reminds me of those visual tricks. Stare really hard at the North Macedonia flag for a few seconds and then look at a blank white wall. Can you see the Scottish flag?” – Peter Oh (channelling his hitherto-undiscovered inner Jasper Johns)
Scotland first played North Macedonia in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers. It didn’t end well. They did win the return leg at Hampden 2-1, though. The countries met again in qualification for the 2014 edition; that didn’t start well at Hampden but at least the away fixture was won. And then there was last month …
Andy Robertson starts for Scotland and so will win his record-equalling 102nd cap. He’s on a booking, though, so will have to avoid picking up another yellow if he’s to have the chance of taking top spot for himself from Sir Kenny Dalglish in Switzerland on Monday evening. Scott McTominay returns after his heart procedure.
The teams
Scotland: Gunn, Porteous, Graham, Tierney, Gannon-Doak, Ferguson, Gilmour, Robertson, McGinn, McTominay, Adams.
Subs: Kelly, Bain, Hickey, McBurnie, Christie, Hendry, Penrice, McPake, Curtis, Bowie, Patterson, Montgomery.
North Macedonia: Dimitrievski, Ilievski, Mladenovski, Musliu, Alioski, Bardhi, Gashtarov, Elmas, Churlinov, Rastoder, Doriev.
Subs: Taleski, Siskovski, Herrera, Fetai, Meliqi, Nikolov, Omeragikj, Elezi, Gjorgjievski, Stankovski, Despotovski, Maleski.
Referee: Michal Ocenas (Slovakia)
Preamble
When Andrew Robertson plays for Scotland tonight, as he surely will, he’ll join the King at the top of this all-time appearance list …
102: Kenny Dalglish
101: Andrew Robertson
93: John McGinn
91: Jim Leighton
84: Craig Gordon
80: Darren Fletcher
77: Alex McLeish
76: Paul McStay
74: Ryan Christie
73: Scott McTominay
… so it’ll be an evening to remember for the Scotland captain. And yet it’ll sour ever so slightly if Sébastien Pocognoli’s men don’t get at least the point that would ensure their survival in League B, or the win that may keep their promotion hopes alive by a thread. Here’s how the Group B1 table looks right now …
1. Switzerland P4 W4 D0 L0 GD+10 Pts 12
2. Slovenia P4 W2 D1 L1 GD+2 Pts 7
3. Scotland P4 W1 D1 L2 GD-2 Pts 4
4. North Macedonia P4 W0 D0 L4 GD-10 Pts 0
… so with Scotland having already beaten North Macedonia 2-0 at their place last month, and the Macedonians yet to avoid defeat or even score a goal in this group, you’d expect… no, let’s defer to history† and not say that. But dreaming is free, so here’s to the Hampden hosts securing their League B status tonight, and perhaps even retaining that hail-mary hope of a return to League A. Kick-off is at 7.45pm BST. It’s on!
†: Plus it’s Friday 13th, so, y’know.
