Scrappy win would delight Scots

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Scotland and Rangers have both been accused of playing "anti-football" to achieve recent results, but McLeish will take any sort of victory over the Italians - even though he believes his players have the skill to stun the Azzurri.

"It's a case of trying to get rid of the Scots psyche saying we're not as good as them. We can be, and we've shown it in certain games," McLeish said. "In the game in Italy some of the football we played was brilliant even though we lost. We played better then than we did against France. If we win ugly on Saturday, then brilliant."

He added: "We're good players. I'm not saying we're world-class players, but we're better than we think we are. This group has shown more confidence than I've seen in a lot of recent past generations, and I think they can get even better."

McLeish could secure qualification for a major finals less than 10 months after taking on the job, and end a decade in the international wilderness for Scotland.

He is well aware of Scotland's limitations but also confident his players have particular qualities which could be vital.

"You have to say we're not as technically good as France or Italy," he said.

"We've got to play true to ourselves as much as possible, but the Scots players have more skill than even they think they have."