It’s crunch time for Scotland in their quest to reach Russia 2018 and the team take on Canada at Easter Road in an International Challenge Match tonight to aid their preparations for Sunday.
Scotland currently lie four points off second placed Slovenia in their qualification group, who they play at the weekend.
The team met up in Edinburgh at the start of the week and have been preparing for the game at the newly built performance centre for sport, Oriam, for the first time.
Official Scotland Podcast
We are taking you inside the Scotland camp this week with our new podcast.
Three official Scotland Podcasts will be available on SoundCloud and across the Scottish FA’s social channels in the build up to the Canada and Slovenia matches.
Hosted by Mark Benstead the podcast will allow supporters exclusive access behind the scenes at the team hotel in the build up to the matches.
The first episode is out now and there will be another episode reviewing the Canada game before a preview ahead of the big one against Slovenia.
In the Canada preview podcast, journalist Barry Anderson, Deputy Editor of Talking Baws Daniel Caw and striker Steven Naismith look ahead to the game tomorrow. Listen to episode one below.
Previous meetings
This will be the sixth meeting between the sides with Scotland winning all of the previous encounters.
The last time the sides met was on Tuesday, 15 October 2002 at Easter Road where Berti Vogts' side earned a 3-1 win.
Scotland fell behind after nine minutes before Steven Crawford equalised moments later.
Steven Thompson then scored one of three goals he notched for his country before Crawford completed his brace.
Scotland team news
The match will allow a number of new players in the squad the chance to make an impression.
Tom Cairney and Ryan Fraser could both be in line to make their Scotland debuts with no Celtic players set to take part in the match with the possible exception of Leigh Griffiths.
With Grant Hanley, James MacArthur and Matt Phillips ruled out from the original squad, uncapped Leeds United defender Liam Cooper is in the squad for the first time since last year and could make his debut.
If Ikechi Anya plays, it will be his 25th appearance for the national team.
Canadian players to watch
Burnley midfielder Artfield is well known to Scottish football fans from his early days at Falkirk while Dundee striker Marcus Haber has made 27 appearances for the Canucks.
Former Rangers duo Luca Gasparotto and Fraser Aird are also involved in the squad, currently coached by interim national coach Michael Findlay before Octavio Zambrano takes over.
Gordon’s pre-match thoughts
“I’m trying to select a team that can cause Canada problems but will also give players like Steven Naismith, Chris Martin, Ikechi Anya, Steven Fletcher – guys who have not had a lot of game time – some match action.
“The team has not been picked for Sunday’s game against Slovenia. The core of it might be picked and I know how we’re going to play – but there are still places to be filled.
“We are hoping to get a good walk-up crowd tomorrow night. We would like the fans to come along and give us their support because we need it.
“There is a disappointment with the Scotland fans at the moment. We understand that, but what we have to do is make them feel better about themselves.”
Match Programme
Priced £3 tomorrow night’s programme is jam packed with content, featuring exclusive interviews with Ikechi Anya and Darren Fletcher.
Ticket Information
Tickets are priced £22 for Adults and £10 for concessions and are available to purchase from 5.45pm from various ticket pods located around the perimeter of the stadium.