Ahead of the crucial World Cup qualifier against Holland, Scotland boss George Burley was visibly more relaxed than when facing the press on Friday in the buildup to the match against Macedonia.

The 2-0 win over Scotland’s Group 9 rivals kept the nation’s World Cup dream alive and, though the manager’s body language had changed, the positive outlook remained in place.

Reflecting on Saturday’s success Burley took on critics who said his side had played poorly in the first half against Macedonia. Rightly pointing out that Spain had found themselves 2-0 at half time against the same opponents, the Scotland manager stressed the importance of battling to win the right to play football and called for more of the same against Holland.

The Scotland boss was well aware that Holland represented a step up in class from the weekend’s opponents but argued that the squad was good enough to get a positive result, but only if they displayed the passion and commitment to see them through.

Given the chance to embrace the underdog tag, Burley shrugged off the importance of such labels, insisting that with such a clear target to aim for any ideas of inferiority, or indeed the opposite, became meaningless.

With James McFadden suspended and an injury doubt over Craig Gordon, Burley declined to name possible replacements but said he was happy with his squad and again highlighted teamwork, concentration and workrate as the keys to what would be a memorable success.