Home win is key for Strachan

After the performance against the Germans, I believe there is good cause to be optimistic.

The display in Dortmund, particularly in the second half, was terrific, and that's something that will keep Gordon Strachan and the team's hopes up for the rest of the campaign.

The team play Georgia at Ibrox tonight before travelling to face Poland in Warsaw at the start of next week.

But as much as there are two games in this international break, you can bet your house on Gordon and his players not looking beyond this evening.

If you look ahead to Poland when you still have to play Georgia - which will be a hard game - you can slip up.

I've always said you need to win your home games to have the best chance of qualifying for a major tournament. So we must concentrate on Georgia, and let that positivity carry us into the next game. We can't afford an adverse result.

The teams are so close in this group in terms of quality when you look at Scotland, Poland and the Republic of Ireland.

But don't discount Georgia just on the basis of them losing at home to Ireland in their first game. It was a very close affair, and one the Irish just managed to squeeze through in.

The bottom line is to win our home games. We must make that the basis of our approach.

I'm sure Gordon has that thought drummed into his players and they will be going into tonight's match in a positive frame of mind.

They need to make sure they start the game right. They looked a bit tentative in the first half in Germany, which is understandable, but it's all about staying positive.

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