GORDON Strachan has described Group D as the toughest of all nine involved in the qualification race for Euro 2016.

Well, it is certainly proving to be the most difficult in which to predict - and earn - a result.

Just ask Poland, who earned their first-ever win over world champions Germany at the weekend but were brought back down to earth with a bump last night as Scotland went behind, took the lead, then succumbed to a wonder goal to share the points.

The Germans, meanwhile, were being held to a 1-1 draw with the Republic of Ireland, who had gone into that match with a 100% record - which included a vital away victory in Georgia - and pulled off another late smash-and-grab to frustrate Joachim Low's mis-firing side.

The only thing confidently predictable is that Gibraltar - beaten 3-0 by Georgia following 7-0 maulings from Poland and the Republic of Ireland -are not going to take a point off anyone in this, their debut tournament.

But by the time Scotland face them away from home in their final group game a year from now, who knows how significant the match may be?

Strachan's men could have already secured one of the two automatic qualifying places. They may still be fighting for the play-off spot.

Or they could be wondering how another finals managed to slip away from them.

On the form shown since Strachan took Craig Levein's place as manager in January last year, surely the Tartan Army will by that time still have something to cheer.

Under him, Scotland have made their road trips fun, and productive, returning from away days with nothing to show for their troubles only three times.

They have countered these few disappointments on foreign fields with wins in Croatia, Macedonia, Norway and Poland - where they played a friendly in March soon after the European Championship qualification sections were announced.

And they came so close to recording another win in Warsaw last night, with a composed and gritty performance which was worthy of more than one point.

It further confirmed that early setbacks and shortcomings have been addressed and, underlined why, in the past 18 months, Strachan's rejuvenated side has compiled a series of results which has propelled them back up the Fifa rankings after they had plummeted to an all-time low.

Even higher is the squad's morale and confidence, the dark days endured under Levein now a distant memory.

But Strachan will be the first to admit that until Scotland qualify for a major finals again - and end what has already been a 16-year wait - then all the progress that has undeniably been made will not get this nation back where he believes it truly belongs.

It is considered there will never be a better time to end this drought, the planets seeming to have aligned with more countries than ever set to qualify for Euro 2016, and Scotland's star on the rise.

However, this most difficult of groups is going to ensure that it is anything but plain sailing, and every point will be considered a prisoner - including the three up for grabs when Strachan goes toe-to-toe with Martin O'Neill at their old stomping ground Celtic Park next month.

The good news is that the structure and foundations are clearly in place for Scotland to go into the seven qualifiers remaining entitled to believe.

That said, while you can be perfectly organised with a game plan in which everyone is totally comfortable and knows their role, you can never legislate for individual errors, like the one which allowed Poland the chance to open the scoring and left Strachan shaking his head in disbelief.

Macszynski capitalised on Alan Hutton's decision to try to control a through ball with his right foot when his left should have booted it clear.

The alert Pole pounced to drill a low shot from 19 yards beyond David Marshall and in off his left-hand post.

With only 11 minutes on the clock, it undid all the good work Scotland had produced to take the sting out of the bullish home side and their enthusiastic fans.

Fortunately, though, this Scotland side does not wilt when faced with adversity, and they pulled themselves together, then level, then ahead.

The equaliser spoke so much of what this team is all about - Steven Fletcher dropping towards the halfway line to pick up a pass before spinning and sending a fantastic cross-field pass to Ikechi Anya wide left.

The little Watford man - a serious doubt to make the match after picking up a calf injury at the weekend - showed a deft touch to control the dropping ball, then great composure and vision to steady himself before picking out Maloney's intelligent run towards the penalty spot.

The Wigan player clipped his first-time shot wide of Wojciech Szczesny, requiring no help from a deflection as he did when setting up the only goal of the game against Georgia.

Better was to come for the happy Tartan Army camped in the National Stadium as they watched their heroes take a stranglehold on the match.

With 12 minutes gone in the second half, Maloney won a free kick just inside the opposition's half.

James Morrison floated the ball into the Polish penalty area and Steven Naismith took the gamble of following it all the way before directing it in at the base of Szczesny's post.

The Poles were stunned, not least because they were still in party mood following their win over Germany and did not anticipate being left with a hangover from their meeting with Scotland.

They would have felt even worse if Szczesny had not pushed Maloney's driven shot on 75 minutes over the bar as Scotland pushed for a third.

But relief for the Poles was just a minute away, Arkadiusz Milik repeating his heroics of the weekend with an unstoppable shot dispatched after Jedrzerjczk had played him in behind Hutton. It was tough on the Scots, who had been bolstered by the arrival of Darren Fletcher and Chris Martin.

Gordon Greer and Russell Martin had kept the dangerous Robert Lewandowski quiet for most of the night. Marshall was required to make just one magnificent save from the Bayern Munich superstar.

And had Sebastian Mila kept his cool and hit a rebound on target from a Kamil Grosicki shot which came back off a post, Poland might have been clear in the group.

However, it is all still to play for, and Scotland remain very much in the mix.