It seems absurd that just one game into a Fifa World Cup qualifying campaign there should be talk of pressure, of tension and of being over and out before the fight has yet begun.
But, realistically, anything other than three points tomorrow night will almost certainly leave Scotland with an uphill struggle that will prove way too steep.
Privately, Craig Levein and his players will verify the truth of that statement. Publicly, the fight goes on.
There were a clutch of Scotland players queuing up on Saturday evening to back the manager and insist that Saturday's draw was not all doom and gloom, despite the cacophony of boos that rang out around the stadium at the sound of the full-time whistle at the weekend.
A shattered Christophe Berra took up his place at the heart of the Scotland defence after his fiancee's 40-hour midweek labour and was relatively composed alongside Andy Webster.
Like his colleagues, he has maintained it is not beyond Scotland to take three points tomorrow against Macedonia, and he was keen to talk up Saturday's display.
"The manager was despon-dent after the game, not at all," he insisted. "There were so many positives that we could take. We made a lot of chances and on another day we might have put them away.
"It is just one of these things. This is international football, we are playing against quality sides. We always knew that it was going to be a tough group, but we have come out of the game with a point and I think maybe a few years back that is the type of game where we may not have done that.
"We believe we are moving forward and we are still desperate to get out there tomorrow night.
"We are confident we can win it. If we were to take four points from our opening games, I think that wouldn't be too bad."
Yet, it was not so much the result that irked the Scotland fans on Saturday as the manner in which it came about. There was a timidity about Levein's side, a lack of conviction going forward and a loss of composure when they did get into decent areas.
If Levein did not want to start with James Forrest, instead preferring Steven Naismith, he ought to have shifted things about when the Everton player clearly tired. And, if Forrest's arrival was a case of too little, too late, what can you say about Jordan Rhodes?
At one point it seemed that the louder the Tartan Army shouted for him, the more resolute Levein became to stick with veteran Kenny Miller. The latter has been an elite performer for Scotland in his heyday, but on Saturday's evidence he may not have the sharpness required to carry the country to a major tournament.
Miller, now playing his football in Vancouver, was as industrious as always, but completely mistimed one header that raised a few question marks about his current form.
Victory against Macedonia is now simply a must. Failure to take three points tomorrow night will be the nightmare scenario for Scotland, although Berra was adamant that no-one within the dressing room was looking around and wondering why young players like Forrest and Rhodes, players who are cap-able of changing a game, were not brought into the fray sooner.
"That is a question for the manager," he said diplomatically.
"When you are out there playing you are concentrating only on your own job and the game in front of you. I think we all know that whoever is on the pitch is giving it their best shot. We would all love to make it to a major inter- national tournament.
"For me, it would be something to tell my children about, my grandchildren about. For any player, that would be the pinnacle of your career and we are desperate to get there.
"We have the chance to get back out on the pitch against Macedonia and give it our all. There is no despondency on the part of the players after Saturday – we believe we are strong enough to win tomorrow and then we can take it from there."
Showing more bite going forward is vital if Scotland are to recover some kind of momentum, but it remains to be seen if Levein rings the changes for the Macedonia tie.
"Whoever starts the game, you can be sure we will go into it fired up," said Berra. "You never know, the point we got at the weekend could end up to be significant at some stage, who knows?
"Right now we just want to get back out on to the park. We feel as though we should have won the game on Saturday, but we have the chance to do that tomorrow and get back on track."
Levein sought to emphasise that the campaign is 10 games rather than two, but winning the opening ties was considered vital.
"I don't think anything has changed," he said. "We need to win against Macedonia – it would certainly be beneficial to do that.
"We proved last time that we improve as we go along and we'll do that. Midfield to front we have plenty of opportunities to bring fresh faces in."
