McLeish: We're not there yet

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The win - thanks to James McFadden's second-half striker - completed a double over last year's World Cup finalists and left McLeish's men sitting pretty at the top of Group B, and with three games remaining, Scotland are in with a great chance of reaching their first major championship finals since 1998 and eliminating one of France or Italy.

McLeish said: "We knew the group would be hard but I've always said we could qualify. We were within touching distance of Italy and France. We are facing three important and difficult games. There is still a lot of work to achieve. We are not qualified yet."

He added: "With a match like this one, it is more and more possible of course. I've always believed in us.

"Now I don't think France are out of the way and, as far as we are concerned, the challenge is still there for Scotland."

France were relegated from top spot to third following Italy's 2-1 win against Ukraine but there are only two points separating Group B's top three.

Scotland must still play both Italy and Ukraine - and arguably take four points from the two games - to avoid a heartbreaking climax to what has been a surprise challenge.

Wednesday night yielded the biggest shock of all and McLeish was full of praise for his players.

"We needed passion and this is something which the Scottish team has always had," he said.

"My players showed a great deal of confidence, we needed something special, we knew that a win would be hard to get. We needed a feat and we got it."