THE Scotland bandwagon continued rolling right to the end of the line as Gordon Strachan's side completed a turnaround campaign by drawing 2-2 with Nigeria.

The performance against the African Cup of Nations holders and World-Cup-bound Flying Eagles was confirmation the progress made since Strachan took over.

Goals from Charlie Mulgrew and an OG from Azubuike Egwuekwe as he deflected a James Morrison shot beyond his keeper looked to have sealed the victory, only for sub Uche Nwofor to pounce in the final minute to deny them the win.

Strachan can now spend the summer months reflecting on a job well done to this point. But he knows the real test of the transition from the dark days which marked the end of Craig Levin's time at the controls will come in September.

That's when the Euro 2016 qualifiers kick off, and Scotland's surge to 22nd place in the Fifa's rankings will be given the acid test.

But the signals are good. Scotland know how to avoid becoming derailed, as no defeats in their last six games confirms.

There was, of course, a surreal backstory to this friendly, given the threat of match fixing identified by the National Crime Agency.

Contrary to cynical predictions, however, there was not a match programme available carrying a full report on the game.

Nor did the Nigeria/ Scotland-combo scarves on sale on the way to Craven Cottage include the final score.

One indignant Nigerian fan staged his own pre-match protest outside the main entrance to the south London ground, holding up a banner which read: Nigeria don't fix matches - they win them.

Well, not this one, they didn't. Not against a starting line-up which was arguably as strong as Strachan could muster.

The one slight surprise was Allan McGregor regaining his place ahead of the hero of so many of Scotland's recent creditable performances, David Marshall.

Shaun Maloney - who had a second-half effort ruled out for offside - was also re-instated to the team after missing most of the campaign through injury.

It was all a clear indication of how determined Strachan was to maintain momentum built since losing to World Cup dark horses Belgium back in September.

For good reason, given that this was the final prep game before the qualifiers for Euro 2016 kick-off with a very difficult match against Germany.

The four months between now and that opener will be spent working on what is going right, and what still needs to be improved upon.

Certainly, there was much to enjoy in last night's game, played out in front of a sizeable and good-natured noisy support for both teams.

Anyone who had backed Mulgrew for the first goal was soon quids in - collecting after 10 minutes - and in sensational style.

The Celtic midfielder had stayed in the box for a training-ground corner. The ball was played back to James Morrison 25 yards from the target. His low drive seemed harmless, until Mulgrew - back to goal - showed tremendous speed of thought and no little ability to kick out his left foot and flick the ball over stranded keeper, Austine Ejide, and looping into the net.

By then the excitable and boisterous fans had already been on their feet as Ikechi Anya latched on to a ball over the top from Morrison - a combination which worked well on the night - but he saw his shot deflect off Kunle Odunlami's foot and strike the post before going out.

Keeper Ejide was fortunate again when he lost an aerial battle with Grant Hanley, and the defender's header trundled into the net.

The ref decided it was a foul and brought the celebrations on 31 minutes to a quick end.

Nigeria did not look like a side who would be going far when they reach Brazil next month.

Individually, they had clever, strong, quick players. But, collectively, much of what they did appeared to be off the cuff, and their defence - with Efe Ambrose watching from the bench for 75 minutes - looked particularly disconnected.

They did test McGregor with a strike from Michael Uchebo, but the Hull goalie was alert and in an excellent position. As he was when Shola Ameobi showed great agility to hitch-kick a shot on target as Nigeria pursued an equaliser.

It eventually came four minutes from the break, and carried a large dollop of good fortune.

Sure, when Uchebo received the ball 40 yards out, he had too much time and space, which he used to power towards goal.

But his shot seemed to be covered until it spun up of Hanley's hip and left McGregor stranded.

The response was all Strachan could have asked for.

And when Morrisson made an intelligent near-post run seven minutes into the second half to get in ahead of his marker, with the ball eventually glancing in off of Egwuekwe, regaining the lead was no more than they were due.

Derby striker Chris Martin was on hand to see it, having replaced Steven Naismith at the interval to win his first cap.

He had the chance to make it a scoring debut, but saw his powerful shot beaten away by the unimpressive keeper.

Martin's Rams team-mate, Craig Forsyth, was also given a run out for the closing minutes.

Hanley will feel he should have cleared the loose ball in the box before Nwofor scored, but that was one of few low lights.

There were plenty of plus points which Strachan took from the final game of 2013-14.