AS THE evocative song says, it's a new dawn, a new day, and we're feeling good.

The Scotland squad haven't quite got round to officially adopting the Nina Simone/ Michael Buble classic as their theme tune, but it does reflect the atmosphere ahead of their opening 2016 qualifier in Germany tomorrow.

The prospect of returning to a major finals for the first time in 18 years has raised the excitement and expectation levels, not least because more countries than ever will win a ticket to the jamboree in France two years from now.

Crucially, the campaign starts from a solid base, Gordon Strachan and his backroom team having had 12 games in which to turn around a national team which had been parked in a cul-de-sac for far too long.

Unlike any of the players he has to pick from, Strachan knows how fulfilling it is to take part in a major finals, having travelled to Spain '82 then taken part in Mexico 1986 when, famously, he found the advertising hoarding more of an obstacle than keeper Harald Schumacher when he fired Scotland into the lead in their group game against West Germany.

It is the manager's mission to give this squad the chance to have the opportunity to experience such a summer, and to allow the Tartan Army to add France 2016 to their list of campaign medals.

However, for all the good work which has been done since he took over from Craig Levein in January last year, Strachan knows that it is from this point on that it really matters.

Scotland were not quite dead and buried in the fight for a place in this summer's Wolrd Cup finals when he was charged with turning things around, but they did have one foot in the grave.

The defeat at home to Wales in his first competitive game in charge - which effectively made the rest of the qualifying campaign an exercise in preparing for Euro 2016 - was a huge blow to Strachan, and a shock to his system, in every sense.

He knew how he wanted his side to play, with possession key, so lumping the ball forward from the back was discouraged.

However, as his players attempted to adapt and adjust, they made too many wrong decisions, leading to possession squandered in seriously-dangerous areas of the pitch.

Bloodied, but unbowed, Strachan did not abandon his philosophy. Instead, he doubled up on practise sessions until his players felt comfortable that they all knew their roles, then went on to perfect them.

The manager recognises Scotland does not have a Messi, an Ibrahimovic or a Ronaldo around which to build the side, or pin their hopes.

So, every player has to make an equal contribution and be part of a team which is truly that - a team.

The hard work extends to ensuring Strachan is not at the mercy of perfect attendance because he knows only too well that call-offs are the nemesis of every international manager.

Unlike a club boss, he can't force players to do anything as they are only on loan to him.

He has to ask them, persuade them, cajole them. Most of all, he has to make them want to do what is required.

This group has been remodelled in that mould. And the fact they have recorded some impressive results - against Croatia twice and Poland and Norway away, in particular -has helped convince all involved they are finally heading in the right direction.

Sure, there have been, and will continue to be, bumps in the road.

But the fact the players individually and collectively have bought into the Strachan route plan means that no one panics when they encounter them.

Likewise, the supporters are once again appreciative of what Strachan is trying to achieve, and more tolerant when things don't go quite to plan.

They will be in Dortmund en masse, even though the bookies have priced Scotland at 18-1 to get a victory against the world champions.

Those odds could be seen as an insult to a country which is rediscovering its pride, and its form - no defeats in our last six games.

But Strachan doesn't care if anyone else has already written off his team's chances of getting a positive result, just so long as everyone within his camp travels to Germany today with belief packed among their luggage.

Stepping that up to confidence might be stretching it, but no one in the squad fears they are going there to get any kind of hiding.

They are going to compete, in the way they know works for the players we have at our disposal.

The Germans will have the bulk of the ball, but this will not be a cause for any panic in the Scots ranks because we have become a team better out of possession than in it due to the organisation instilled in them by Strachan and his backroom staff.

Key to this, however, is the knowledge there is an out-ball, a release in the form of attacking players who can take the ball to the other end of the pitch and provide much-needed respite for those at the back.

More than this, though, Strachan has now coached the players to carry a threat, with players like Ikechi Anya, Chris Burke and Shaun Maloney adept at breaking forward from defensive duties to support the lone striker.

The defence which carried Germany to Brazil, then to glory when they got there, has now been broken up with the retirement of Philipp Lahm and Per Mertesacker.

The new-look back-line shipped four goals against Argentina on Wednesday, underlining the transition which is taking place within Joachim Low's side.

Of course, Scotland don't have a Angel Di Maria or a Sergio Aguero in their ranks to ask too many serious questions of the German defence.

But they do have committed and organised players to ask enough to give them a chance of kicking off their Euro 2016 campaign with a result which will reinforce the belief that, finally, a major finals appearance is once again attainable.