They are calling it the £90 million match. The Championship play-off final on Saturday afternoon will see Blackpool and Cardiff City, two clubs the neutrals would love to see fighting it out in next season's English Premier League, go head-to-head to assume unthinkable riches after decades in the second tier.

Compare that amount to the paltry offerings north of the border for clubs in the SPL and the gulf in finances between our top teams and those who consistently flounder in the top flight down south. In that respect amongst others, the gap continues to widen.

Yet while our players, fans and chairmen look on enviously on their neighbours, there are no less than 12 Scots involved in the first team squads of the Seasiders and the Bluebirds. With six on each side, our country's contingent in one of the world's top leagues could be significantly bolstered come Saturday evening.

In the blue corner, former Motherwell players Paul Quinn and Ross McCormack, ex-Celtic keeper David Marshall, one-time Aberdeen full-back Kevin McNaughton and former Rangers winger Chris Burke are all in contention for a starting berth. Burke and McCormack's former Ibrox team-mate Gavin Rae is also involved but will miss out because of injury.

In tangerine, a mini Rangers reunion will be in force when star man Charlie Adam comes up against two of his former team-mates. Stephen Dobbie will also be a familiar face, having begun his career at Ibrox but finding his feet eventually at Queen of the South.

Former Celtic youngster Stephen Crainey is a regular pick at left back. Barry Bannan, born in Airdrie but a product of Aston Villa's youth academy, is a key figure in what will be the last match of his loan spell. Another exile, Stephen McPhee, whose only action in Scotland came in a loan spell at St Mirren completes the half dozen but will be absent through injury.

The football romantics will be urging Blackpool on, as will those fans of Premier League clubs who fancy an away trip to the seaside town. Many supporters also feel an affinity for their colourful manager Ian Holloway, who will take his club to the top flight for the first time in 39 years should he emerge victorious.

Cardiff's absence has been even longer, having not competed at the top level since 1962. There is even greater significance to the riches on offer, with the club fighting a tax bill which has seen them threatened with a winding-up order. Victory at Wembley would not only make them the first Welsh club in the modern day Premier League, it would probably end their money worries.

Whatever the outcome, the ever-expanding band of Anglo-based Scots will no doubt have their say in their respective clubs' quest for the promised land. And seeing so many of our own being involved in such high-profile matches can only be good news for the national team, which is still recovering from the talent gap caused by the influx of foreign players to our leagues which pushed out young talent.

The stream of talent going south may dent our own sides' squads in the short-term, with players likely to be encouraged by seeing six of those who gambled by leaving their comfort zones being rewarded with promotion.

But there is long-term gain for Craig Levein, as well as the clubs who sell players with performance-related clauses involved in the deal. We may look on enviously right now, but Scotland stands to benefit eventually from being left behind. In the meantime, we can enjoy the spectacle, revel in seeing so many of our own being involved in such a showpiece fixture, and rest easy knowing it will pay off for our own game one day.