A new era for Scotland begins on Saturday.
The Tartan Army take to the field for the first time under the stewardship of new boss Sebastien Pocognoli when they travel to Slovenia (2pm) for their Nations League opener.
But it remains a guessing game as to what personnel will be in his first XI and exactly what tactics the Belgian will employ.
Last week saw the 39-year-old name his maiden Scotland squad and there were more than a few eyebrows raised by the inclusion of eight uncapped players.
Scotland’s last outing was their World Cup match against Brazil, which they lost 3-0 as they made an early exit from the competition at the group stage.
Pocognoli was giving little away when on media duties this week although he has, at least so far in his coaching career, opted for three at the back.
The new boss, speaking with the BBC this week, said: “For me, it’s about the personality of the players. I like a unit team who are just fighting for each other.
“It’s a basic principle – attack together and squeeze the pitch. When we need to defend, it’s just to defend like brothers. When we lose the ball, it’s try to regain the ball as quickly as possible. From that, there are a lot of other principles, but that’s the base. If you cannot get this, you will never have good principles on the pitch.”
Slovenia head coach Bostjan Cesar said: “Scotland is a team with quality. We’ll have to stay compact and stick together. It will be about how much space we allow them to play in.
“We know the Scots are very aggressive but I think they will leave space for us at the back. So we have to make the most of our chances in attack. We have analysed Scotland from the World Cup.
“But with the new coach, we know this will be a different Scotland team than the one we watched in the summer.”
After Saturday’s game in Ljubljana, Scotland return home for a Hampden Park meeting on Tuesday night against World Cup quarter-finalists Switzerland. They then hit the road again, with a trip to North Macedonia on Saturday, October 3.
They then conclude their first camp under Pocognoli with a home meeting against Slovenia on Tuesday, October 6.
