It is a massive week for the Scotland U21s as they are on the verge of qualifying for the UEFA Under-21 European Championships. The Finals effectively bring together the seven top sides at that level from across the continent plus the tournament hosts, and Billy Stark's side have a great chance of making the finals in Denmark next summer.

Scotland has qualified for the final stages of the UEFA Championships on six occasions, although not since 1996, however they did qualify for the Under-20 World Cup in Canada a few years ago.

The Under-21s need four points from their final two games. Scotland play Belarus tomorrow (Friday 3rd September) before facing Austria on Tuesday (7th September) here at Pittodrie. Kick off 4.00pm. All the final games in the group will kick off at the same time.

With Scotland having a great chance to progress to the play-offs both Chris Maguire and Pittodrie are set to hold centre stage. Chris is a seasoned pro when it comes to playing for his country at that level and it's a game he's very much looking forward after captaining the Scots in their last outing in a friendly against Sweden. Chris told RedMatchday "I've captained Scotland Under 21s now and it's a fantastic honour and a great achievement to have done that, something I'm very proud of. It was the first time I'd done that at any level and I was delighted when Billy Stark said to me on the day of the game that he was giving me the armband.

"He said he felt my performances over the campaign had earned me the right and did I want to captain the team, and there was no way I was going to turn that down! He just told me to relax and enjoy it, not feel as if I had to do anything to prove myself, just go and play the same way I have been for the 21s, but it always feels that wee bit different, you know you have that extra bit of responsibility, you try to be a bit of a leader on the pitch. You know the other players are looking to you when you have got that band on your arm, so I was trying to encourage the boys to keep their standards up on the pitch and the boys kept going right the way to the end of the game to get the draw which was a decent result.

"We go to Belarus for a qualifier and then we play Austria here at Pittodrie so we need to be looking at picking up full points from those two. Austria have played seven and they've got 14 points and are at the top of the group and Belarus and ourselves have played six and have both got 13 points so it's pretty close between the three of us to see who can clinch that top place in the group.

"The game over in Belarus is going to be a really hard one but if we can get the right result there, it really sets us up for the Austria game here at Pittodrie. We beat Belarus down at St Mirren, 1-0, but it was a tough game, but we can take confidence from that and if we could win out there, we come home to Pittodrie knowing exactly what we have to do against Austria.

"To come into the last game with the chance of qualifying for a major championship and for the game to be at Pittodrie would be a fantastic thing for myself. I'd love to be coming back here in that situation. We feel we want to put one over on Austria because we lost over there but we felt a bit hard done by in the way the game turned out, we were all really disappointed we came out of that one with nothing. We were definitely the better team and they knew it, and we were unhappy with some of the things that went on over there. But we've got that in the back of our minds and we know what we need to do at Pittodrie to make things even.

"It's a good team that we've got, it's encouraging for the future of Scottish football because a lot of the guys in the side are playing regular first team football for their clubs, right through from the goalkeeper, the defenders, the midfield and up to the strikers, and that's a bit unusual at that level. It's a very strong squad, the coaching squad are delighted with how we've done and if you look around, there's a lot of boys who will be looking to move into the senior squad later. Training's good, the players get on well, we look forward to meeting up and if we all stick together, I think we'll have a good chance of coming through on top".

Billy Stark's Under-21s will hold an open training session at Allan Park in Cove on Sunday 5th September from 10am to 12pm ahead of their crucial final qualifier against Austria at Pittodrie.

Following their training session the players will be available for autographs and kids attending can go away with a free ticket to Tuesday night's game.

National Youth Teams Coach Billy Stark is hoping for a big crowd to what should be a decisive game in their play-off bid, and he hopes supporters in Aberdeen will enjoy the experience of getting up close to their heroes.

"We are delighted to bring this game to Pittodrie," he said. "In our experience we have had some fantastic crowds along to youth international games in this area and we hope Tuesday night will be no different."

"We have a huge opportunity to reach the play-offs but there is no doubt we will need a result from this game to get there. A big crowd would really help the boys on their way.

"We have made this training session open and the players will spend time signing autographs afterwards because I think it's important we acknowledge the supporters and use these games to try and inspire the next generation of players."

Belarus v SCOTLAND

Friday 3rd September 2010

Minsk, Belarus, 4pm GMT

UEFA Under-21 Championship

SCOTLAND v Austria

Tuesday 7th September 2010

Pittodrie Stadium, ko 4pm

Cash gate: £5 adult and £2 child or concession

Tickets for the vital qualifying match against Austria can be purchased now from the Ticket Office at Pittodrie with adult tickets priced at £5 for adults and children and concessions are just £2.

Please note only the Richard Donald Lower, Main Stand and Merkland Stands will be open for this match and you will be able to pay at the gate on the afternoon. Please call the Ticket Office on 01224 63 1903 for further details.

PLAYER NAME(S): Jack Grimmer

COUNTRY: Scotland

AGE GROUP: U17

MATCH/CAMP: Uefa Under 17 Championship, Qualifying Round (v Macedonia, Luxembourg, Switzerland)

DATE: From 14/09/2010 to 23/09/2010

VENUE: Luxembourg