Still dreaming...

When I saw the fixtures for this group, I'd have grasped with both hands a situation where we could qualify by beating Italy at home in our final match.

After we won in the Faroe Islands in June, I was sure that 25 points would be enough for us to qualify.

After we beat Lithuania at home. It looked like 2 wins and a draw from our last 4 matches would be enough.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. How times change.

First up, fantastic result. Decent performance too, though we rode our luck at times. Two goals in the first 10 minutes tend to help. I can neither confirm nor deny allegations that I thought Lee McCulloch was only in the team to win headers at set pieces. What an absolutely stunning strike. And when we were under a bit of pressure at 2-1, who pops up for his third goal in three internationals? Fadders is rapidly assuming talismanic status, and at exactly the time we need him to, he is playing the football of his life. He's not the only one, either. Alan Hutton was our best player yesterday - solid defensively, loping forward at every opportunity, and setting up the third goal with a glorious floated pass. Barry Ferguson has never looked this good in a Scotland shirt, while Scott Brown showed his full repertoire of skills with none of the petulance he used to display so often. McCulloch's absence for Wednesday is a blow, as he's in fine form as well.

That's Ukraine out of it then, so it's two from three, as France and Italy picked up expected victories. The situation then - beat Georgia and we only need a draw with Italy; draw or lose in Tblisi and a win over the world champions is "all" we need. That's assuming that France don't slip up either against Lithuania on Wednesday or away to Ukraine in their final game. Only one thing is certain - finger nails are going to be at a premium.

L.