Unstripped substitute could become Scotland's greatest-ever as thoughts turn to Hampden 1989

Bob Dylan’s in town and the times might be a-changin’. Now 84, Dylan was in his mid-fifties when Scotland were last at a World Cup. The legendary musician is playing two shows in Glasgow but there’s no debate about what the hottest ticket is this week. A packed Hampden Park will be no place for the faint-hearted on Tuesday evening with automatic qualification riding on the line against Denmark.

Scotland’s World Cup flame is burning more brightly than at any point since 1997. One win away from securing a berth back at a tournament where participation once felt like a birthright, everything is building towards an undoubtedly fraught but hopefully rewarding climax.

Clarke currently stands on 34 victories, including penalty shootouts, in his six-and-a-half-year reign as manager. His 35th, if it comes against the Danes, will be the most cherished. It would also see him become Scotland’s greatest-ever manager if major finals are the sole measure.

It still eats away at him that he never made it to one as a player. The last time Scotland had the opportunity to secure a place at a World Cup finals at Hampden, against Norway in 1989, Clarke was a late replacement for Steve Nicol in the squad. He did his talking on the park having been angered by the original omission, scoring a winner at Everton for Chelsea which put his side top of the league.

He was called up afterwards by Andy Roxburgh following Nicol’s withdrawal. Clarke, who won only six caps, never made it onto the pitch against Norway - Dave McPherson was picked at right-back - and was an unstripped substitute. It all seemed slightly hazy when asked to relive it on Monday although he admitted it had been on his mind earlier as he lay awake in his hotel room. Sleep isn’t coming easily for anyone in the country at the moment, especially the one charged with steering Scotland through this shootout for automatic qualification.

Although there are no fresh injury worries following Saturday’s 3-2 defeat to Greece, Clarke confirmed midfielder Billy Gilmour would not be joining up with the squad having failed to shake off a problem picked up with Napoli. It's a big loss on such a high stakes occasion.

Of course, there’s still the comfort of a banked play-off to fall back on but winning one match at home against very good but beatable opposition are conditions everyone accepts need to be exploited.

‘We just sat on the bench pretty nervous...’

There was slightly more room for manoeuvre in 1989. Scotland could afford a draw, which was a blessed relief when a late equaliser slipped through Jim Leighton and meant there was a tricky late period to negotiate. France were beating Cyprus and would have supplanted Scotland in second place in the group had Norway scored again.

“I was sent a couple of briefings (this week) which mentioned that game," Clarke said. "I was sitting in my bed this morning, a bit tired. It was early...maybe about half past five.

“And I was thinking, 'I am sure I was in that squad!’ I wasn’t on the bench but I had been called up to join the camp. What do I remember about the game? I remember a decent Scotland performance. I remember winning 1-0 late in the game when my team mate from Chelsea at the time, big Erland Johnsen, smashed one from about 45 yards that somehow found the back of the net.

“We just sat on the bench pretty nervous for the rest of the game hoping that it would finish 1-1 because we needed a point. That’s basically about it.”

It’s true that qualifying back then didn’t feel like anything out of the ordinary. “Scotland bound for Italy,” was the straightforward headline on the back page of The Scotsman the following morning. Qualify? It’s what we do. Remarkably, by reaching Italia ’90 Scotland joined Italy as the only European countries to appear at five consecutive World Cups. There’s been only one since, of course, a grim cycle of failure that is burned deep into the national psyche and which Clarke and his players now have such a golden opportunity to rectify.

It was put to the manager that Scotland must make the most of a second chance afforded them due to Belarus’ unexpected draw in Copenhagen. Even though he had used it himself in Piraeus on Saturday night, he queried the phrase ‘second chance’.

It was so very Steve Clarke, up there with his explanation for waving Craig Gordon back when the ‘keeper came up for a corner late in Saturday’s game against Greece, with Scotland pushing for an equaliser. “I’ve never been a coach who encourages goalkeepers to go forward,” he said. Typical Clarke. We will miss him when he’s gone – well, some of us will.

“I think it’s the first opportunity,” he said, correctly, in response to the ‘second chance’ question. “We have ten points and Denmark have 11. So I think it’s our first opportunity (to qualify)...

"Listen, we always thought when the draw was made that if we could get it down to the final game here at Hampden that would be an achievement, because we would then have finished above our seeding. And we’ve done that. We were drawn as a pot three team and we’re already in second place. But we want to go one step further and finish top of the group.”

Everyone knows what that would mean - World Cup song time. “We have a dream/if dreams come true…” Bob Dylan? No, B.A. Robertson. Scotland just need someone to score the winning goal.