Former Scotland manager Alex McLeish believes that it would be the country’s greatest win ever over England if Gordon Strachan can guide his side to an unlikely victory at Wembley on Friday.

The Scots are rank outsiders for the ‘Auld Enemy’ clash, and go into the game off the back of the dispiriting double-header against Lithuania and Slovakia that yielded just a solitary point only a month ago.

But McLeish has backed his friend and former Aberdeen teammate Strachan to lift the Scottish players for Friday’s battle of Britain, and shake off the negativity currently enveloping the country in regards to its football team.

“If Scotland could pull it off then it would be the biggest win we’ve ever had over England,” McLeish said. “When you consider what is at stake, the kind of negativity since the last two qualifiers.

“[After a defeat] what we always tend to do is savage ourselves for a few days - and then start to talk in a positive way. We say ‘Wait a minute, all hope is not lost’ and when we’re backed into a corner we can produce the best results.

“Gordon will probably want to keep quiet, keep his powder dry, and try and deliver a famous result.

“If people are saying this England team aren’t as good as recent sides then they’re underrating them. There’s a lot of good young players, a lot of speed in the team and if these guys find momentum they are a top team.

“They are still a team trying to find rhythm with that bunch of players but if they click then they’ll be really dangerous.

“When it comes to playing a British side they get the hackles up a wee bit more - just as we do. Hopefully it’s going to be an exciting game and it would be great if we got a victory, or even a point.

“The last couple of games were tough for us, but there is still plenty of time and we can get a positive result at Wembley. Everyone is in the melting pot. We’d expect England to win the group but then it’s up for grabs.”

McLeish, who hasn’t ruled out returning as manager of the international side one day, knows from experience that the mental attitude of the players has to be spot on to come away from Wembley with anything.

“I played at Wembley in 1981 which we won - I think that was my only victory,” he said. “That was also my first game and I remember the Wembley pitch was really sapping of energy.

“The pitch was really heavy and I never felt as tired coming off a pitch in my whole career as I did in that Wembley game. It’s more than just the pitch - the energy inside the stadium and mental energy you use playing against England will be a factor as well for our boys.

“The physical fitness goes without saying but the mentality is going to be really important towards this game.”

The days when Scotland managers could call upon the likes of McLeish and Dons teammate Willie Miller at the heart of defence are sadly long gone.

While McLeish recognises that some of the goals Scotland have been losing of late are unacceptable, he believes that Grant Hanley and Russell Anderson should keep their places for Friday night.

“We don’t see too many in the central defensive position,” he said. “I can’t really think of anyone behind the boys who are playing, but they have a good understanding.

“But I have to say that some of the goals we’ve lost recently has been unlike them. I know we lost crucial goals at crucial times in the last campaign.

“But as a defensive unit we didn’t look as if we had a bad game [against Slovakia], it was just certain moments we had to tighten up the concentration levels and that has been evident in the last two games - especially the Lithuania goal at Hampden.

“We need to be better than that and when you’re the last man you have to be international thinking. But for me Russell Martin and Grant Hanley are the best two we’ve got, they’ve got not a bad understanding, but we have to be ruthless when we’re defending in the final third.”