Preview: Scotland vs. Ukraine

Scotland today welcome Ukraine to Hampden Park as they continue their miraculous qualification push. The Scots currently head Euro 2008 qualifying Group B with 21 points from nine games, ahead of France and Italy.

Unbelievable form from the Scots has seen them win five matches in a row, and Alex McLeish will be keen to continue that trend today.

Ukraine are in fourth in Group B, eight points behind Scotland - but know that they could still have an effect on the outcome of this group.

Injuries

Darren Fletcher is out for this match, while Gary Caldwell is out with a knee problem and Paul Hartley has a hamstring problem.

Ukraine's Hopes

Ukraine, despite being eight points behind, have faint hopes of qualifying for Euro 2008. Andrei Shevchenko is likely to lead the line alongside Liverpool striker Andrei Voronin. Ukraine have only won one of their last four games, and look far from the side that did so well in the World Cup in 2006.

McLeish comments

Alex McLeish has been keen to remain tight-lipped on Scotland's chances in the match against Ukraine.

"To say they are looking forward to it is an understatement," McLeish asserted. "You can see they have an edge about them in training, despite being told in the early part of the week to step off the gas. There is a maturity about the squad which has risen since the start of the campaign.

"The players are handling things such as the hysteria of the last double-header (the wins over Lithuania at home and France in Paris) very well.

"I am not saying that means we will definitely win, because there has got to be a realisation we may not. If people do realise that, it can give the players a little bit of peace of mind in their approach to the game."

McLeish: Not a must win

"I don't think it's 'do or die'," said the Scotland manager.

"We can still qualify if we don't win this game, of course we can.

"We could get six points from our last three games and still miss out, but with seven we would go through.

"It would certainly be a kick below the belt if we miss out now."

Eyefootball International Predictor

Scotland 2-1 Ukraine

What a match this one will be, and Scotland should just about scrape three points at Hampden to almost certainly guarantee their qualification to Austria and Switzerland. Ukraine have only won once in four games (against Uzbekistan) whilst Scotland are in some wonderful form. If James McFadden plays well, so will Scotland.

Prediction: 2-1 to Scotland

Goalscorer: James McFadden