David Marshall is confident that Scotland won’t be caught napping in Tbilisi – especially now that star man Shaun Maloney has returned home.

Maloney has been a pivotal figure in the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign so far despite the strain of a transatlantic commute on the 32-year-old for international duty.

Marshall, his close pal and room-mate when away with his country, admits that the travelling took its toll on Maloney, even if it didn’t show on the pitch.

Speaking at his old school, St Thomas’ Primary in Riddrie in support of the Tesco Bank Football Challenge initiative, the goalie said: “Did I notice him being tired? He was sleeping for two days in a row!

“But in terms of performance it’s not affected him so far. He’s been brilliant

“He’s played really well and scored some great goals. The goal in Ireland in the summer was massive for us but so was the goal against Ireland at home.

“I expect him to be a big player again in our remaining games.”

Maloney clinched a deal to return to British shores with Hull City earlier in the week, with the chance to qualify for France next summer weighing heavily on his decision.

It’s hard to see how his form could improve further though in the four massive games that Scotland have ahead of them as they try to turn that dream into reality.

“I texted him when I first read he was linked with a move in the paper,” Marshall said.

“He’s happy to come back. I think he feels a bit more comfortable being back in the UK because it’s a lot of travelling over in the USA. Then when he gets back here it takes him a couple of days to get back into the time zone.

“But Georgia is quite a long trip. We are travelling on Wednesday, Shaun normally wouldn’t be here until the Monday morning, and he would maybe feel that it would end up affecting him eventually.

“He’s done that well in the group so far and he probably didn’t want it to become an issue.

“Georgia is another time zone so he would be coming from America to Glasgow to Georgia and that’s three different time zones. He probably feels a bit more comfortable being in the UK and not having to do that.

“Being back and ready for internationals shows his commitment. But he’s always been a committed player. He’s always been first class.”

Marshall has only foggy memories of his last trip to Tbilisi in 2007, where he watched from the bench as Scotland’s Euro 2008 qualification hopes were mortally wounded.

Most supporters of the national side would rather forget it too.

But Marshall has moved to allay the fears of anyone in the Tartan Army who sees the game as a potential banana skin for Gordon Strachan’s side.

“Everyone was really confident,” he said.

“We went into the game having a really good chance of qualifying off the back of beating France home and away. It just didn’t happen for us that night. We conceded one but we still thought we could get something from the match. But in the end it wasn’t to be.

“It was a shock to lose the game.

“It’s something we can’t really speak about as a squad because there probably only two or three boys there.

“It will be a totally different game.

“We know how tough it’s going to be. Ireland struggled there until the last minute when Aiden (McGeady) scored in their first game.

“I think they’ve changed their manager which always gives teams a lift.

“So we’ll just need to be right and do our own jobs.

“Away games, no matter who you’re playing, are always harder to win than at home.

“In international football there are not a lot of chances in games, so taking your chances and trying to keep a clean sheet is massive.

“We are positive about every game. The results have been good and we have got ourselves in a position that if we can win a few more games we will have a right good chance.”

Marshall shrugged off talk of any pressure on the players as Group D reaches the crunch stage, insisting the players would rather have that than be out of the running.

He admits though that the period of transition when Gordon Strachan took over was aided by a low-key end to a group where we already had little chance of progression.

“In the previous campaign the gaffer came in when we were more or less out of it,” he said.

“We had that time to win some games and get our confidence up and he had some time to put his plan in place about what he wanted.

“So I think we took that into this campaign and we’ve had good results at big times.

“We’ve now got four games to go and by Monday we’ll have a clearer picture.

“The focus is on a massive game on Friday and whatever we get there and then we’ll change straight away for the Germany game.”

After years of playing a supporting role for the national side, Marshall is relishing his opportunity to be centre-stage.

Despite a formidable challenge for the gloves from Craig Gordon and Allan McGregor, there is no doubt who is in possession of the jersey, with Marshall starting all six qualifiers to date.

“I just kind of get on with it,” he said.

“The gaffer will pick his team and that’s where it is.

“Obviously at the start of the campaign it was a bigger question but he’s stuck with myself and as long as I perform well and the team is winning that’s all I can do.

“If you perform well it takes all the question marks away. That’s all I can deal with as other factors are out with my control.

“So if I keep playing well and doing well I think that answers it.”