Scott McKenna was one of the players who spoke to the media on Monday ahead of Scotland’s game at Hampden against Israel on Tuesday.

“It was a great performance from the boys on Saturday, to go out and beat a team 4-0 away from home.

“It was just delight from everyone to celebrate with each other. The way we started the game on Saturday, right from the get go everyone knew what their jobs were. When you get a goal quite early it settles everyone down, and when everyone celebrates together it just shows you the team spirit we have.

“It’s always a lot easier when you go away and win a game. But the manner in which we did it was great for everyone.

“The clean sheet was obviously great for the defenders. That’s something we take extra pride in. That made it even better.

“It might have helped us (moving from a back three to a four) but at the end of the day we are all professional footballers and we should be able to adapt to whatever formation the manager wants us to play in.

“But personally, I have played in a four a lot more at my club and I felt comfortable in it and I think that showed in the performance.”

“We have been hit with a lot of injuries. But they have been replaced with a lot of quality as well. It is up to anyone who is in the squad just now to go out and perform.

“We all want to try and keep our places here.

“Everyone has their reasons, whether it is injuries or factors outwith that. We can’t control that. We just have to do the best we can with the group of boys who are here.

“We’d never blame anyone who is not here; you never know, one day we might be in the situation where we can’t make a trip. It would not be fair for us to be judging them.

“Obviously, I’m still quite young and I’ve only got seven caps. But David Bates came in beside me and didn’t look one bit out of place. I thought it was an excellent debut.

“I think we can complement each other. The key to it is communication and helping each other. We limited their chances.

“The confidence is in the group from Saturday and we have to try to replicate that.

“We need to replicate that as much as we can and I am sure if we do that we will get another positive result.

“We know what is at stake.

“We came wanting to top the group and we have got ourselves into a position to try and do that.

“That was our aim at the start.

“We had a disappointing result in Israel and will be trying to correct that. If we go out and win the game, we win the group. It’s as easy as that.

“There is no sitting in trying to get a 0-0 or knowing a draw’s enough.

“We need to go and outscore them and try and hopefully keep a clean sheet. One goal might do it but it’s black and white — we need to win the game to top the group. It makes our job easier.

“We know how much it would mean to everyone in Scotland to get to a tournament. It’s been far too long.

“Hopefully we can be the team that does it.”