Shaun Maloney believes the heat will all be on Ireland when the teams meet in the next Euro 2016 qualifier in Dublin in June.

The Chicago Fire forward netted twice from the spot in yesterday's comprehensive 6-1 win over group whipping boys Gibraltar to tee up a mouth-watering clash against Martin O'Neill's side at the end of the season.

Gordon Strachan's side have taken 10 points so far in Group D to maintain their ambitions of qualifying for their first major tournament since 1998.

And Maloney believes that they can go to Dublin with a spring in their step - but was reluctant to label it a must-win game.

"It is such a huge game but there are pretty big games after that - we have got Germany and Poland here and Georgia away which is a difficult game," said Maloney.

"Every game from here on in could be labelled definitive but I think the pressure will grow as we get closer to that game.

"The pressure on both sides will be pretty big. They will feel the same pressure that we had at Celtic Park.

"The home support was superb at Celtic Park and that was magnified because we scored and we had that moment as a team. Your home games are big and they'll feel the pressure as we did when we played them."

Maloney could have had a hat-trick yesterday afternoon, an accolade that went to Steven Fletcher.

The Scotland striker became the first player since Colin Stein in 1969 to score a hat-trick for Scotland - and Maloney was quick to salute his international team-mate.

"Steven's overall performance deserved it more," he said. "Definitely in the second half I was struggling to keep up the standard I have put in recent matches.

"With his goalscoring record talked about this week I was glad for him.

"The players really enjoy playing with him and what he does for the team shouldn't be underestimated."

Maloney himself has netted four goals in the current qualifying campaign - double his previous best.

The player believes that he will be fitter and faster in June when his MLS season is well underway which could lead to further appearances on the scoresheet.

"Before this campaign the best I had in a campaign was 2 so it's been a good start for me - a few more would be nice," he said.

In what is a difficult and demanding group, Scotland remain in a strong position, encouraging optimism that this could be a campaign that bears fruit.

And Maloney is confident that the current group of players have what it takes to go all the way in Group D.

"There was some really good play and I thought Naismith's play for the penalty was excellent," he said.

"The manager wasn't entirely happy with it which is why he changed things but it is no bad thing to have a manager who expects a certain performance and if we don't reach that he'll let us know."

Despite appearing to pull up with a hamstring problem, Maloney was able to keep going.

For a player who has been plagued with injury problems throughout his career, it was a relief for the versatile attacker that he was able to play on.

"I went on a long spring and felt something but we were just about to make a sub and sometimes you just need to get on with it."