The assistant manager arrived in Oslo last night exuding an air of optimism that he will cultivate within the squad right up until kick-off in the Ullevaal Stadium tomorrow night.
Norway’s desperation to move off the bottom of the five-team group makes them especially dangerous but Butcher is soothed by a strength of unity he believes will enable Scotland to secure second place behind Holland and end an 11-year hiatus from major championship qualification.
Scotland complete their qualification programme at home to Macedonia, their nearest rivals, and the runaway Dutch next month but Butcher stressed tomorrow’s result will define the entire campaign. “Qualification is tantalisingly close,” he said. “It is a great opportunity for everybody.
“We’re going there with one thought and that’s to put in a good performance and get those three points. The play-offs are so close for us and we have to make sure that we get there.
“Three wins would definitely get us into the play-offs but this is our last away match in the group and we want to go to Norway -- like we did to Iceland -- nice and positive and try to get those three points. At the moment, it’s one of the best [chances Scotland have had to qualify] but we’ll wait and see.”
A draw against Egil Olsen’s side would not be disastrous but would leave a familiarly fraught climax at Hampden Park, with Scotland needing to atone for the defeat in Skopje and also require to take at least a point against Holland in the final game.
Alex McLeish failed narrowly to qualify for the Euro 2008 play-off place with a late defeat to Italy at Hampden and Butcher, even as an Englishman, is fed up of Scotland’s hard luck stories. This time, he notes more favourable conditions and a team imbued with a new-found sense of adventure under George Burley.
“Look at George’s sides: they are positive,” he said. “We went to Iceland and played two wingers and got the result, despite injuries and call-offs. There are no excuses now, no call-offs so we can look forward to a full squad in training.
“We know what’s expected of us; we also know that the Norwegians have to win all three matches to stand any chance of getting into the play-offs, so they’ll be going for it.
“At the same time, we’re very confident after the Iceland match. It was a good performance in that game under the circumstances. We managed to get a good result and put ourselves in a strong position with two home matches to come.”
Burley’s biggest decision will be which back-up goalkeeper to select after injury to Craig Gordon and the banishment of Allan McGregor. David Marshall is the favourite but Neil Alexander has also performed flawlessly for Rangers. Butcher is adamant Burley’s decision will not be compromised by sentiment but will be based on temperament shown in the next 24 hours.
“He won’t be afraid of making those decisions,” Butcher said. “He makes bold decisions; he’s always done that in his career and he’s done so with Scotland in the past. There’s a lot of gut feeling that comes into management. I know it’s not an exact scientific formula. Sometimes, your gut feelings are your best feelings but that’s down to George, and his gut feelings in the past have been very good.
“He’s positive, more positive than ever. So, whoever he picks in goal, whoever he picks in the starting XI and the subs as well, everybody’s going to go out there with one thing in mind: to get the right result.”
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