FOR Gordon Strachan, the opportunity to bask in the satisfaction of having seen his Scotland side fire their first three points on the board in Euro Championship Group D was fleeting.

No sooner had he returned to the squad's Clydeside retreat than the national team boss had to endure the sight of Poland defeating world champions Germany in Warsaw to top the section.

Even on match day two of the qualification campaign, it threw a different complexion on the race for the two automatic spots and the play-off position - and not one of a tartan hue.

It also made the victory over Georgia all the more important. Had Scott Brown and Co. failed to secure the 1-0 win, courtesy of a deflected own goal, they would be heading to Poland today with must-win-in-Warsaw declared as their unwanted reason for travelling.

Sure, they are already playing catch-up, with the Republic of Ireland, as expected, trouncing Gibraltar to join the Poles on maximum points, but expected to face a backlash when Martin O'Neill's side meet the hurting Germans in Gelsenkirchen tomorrow night.

However, Scotland have made exactly the start predicted by most, with an opening day defeat, but an excellent performance, in Germany, followed by a home win against Georgia, which deserved to be more emphatic, given how well they controlled the match for the bulk of the 90 minutes.

Not conceding points or goals at home will be a key element in this campaign.

Yet there remains a genuine belief that Scotland, in the 14 games Strachan has been in charge, have become a side better equipped to do damage when they are on the road.

Tomorrow will be an important test of this theory, in a country where, back in March, they won 1-0 in a friendly to underpin the feelgood factor which is putting a smile on the players and the Tartan Army.

But the manager knows only too well forward momentum can quickly be thrown into reverse by one negative result.

By the same token, Strachan appreciates that to come through this double-header with four points would keep them well on track to be major players in the qualification battle.

He does, however, refuse to buy fully into the school of thought his team and tactics are better suited to playing away from home where they will not be met by as deep-lying opposition as Georgia presented, nullifying hugely the pace Scotland like to use in wide areas and in behind.

"We don't know," is Strachan's honest answer to the question of whether away days sit easier with his side.

"We haven't played many home games with this team over the past year, so I couldn't tell you. We might have been a brilliant team at home.

"But we played so many away, not because we wanted to but because of circumstances. However, it didn't do us any harm. It gave us confidence, and it ends up that you get 70 minutes like I got from the team on Saturday."

Even home isn't really home at the moment, with Hampden still out of commission, necessitating the use of Ibrox and, next month, Celtic Park.

That is of no concern to Strachan, however, as his travelling troubadours are hitting the right notes wherever they strike up their band these days.

The players have bought into what the manager is trying to achieve, and the man in charge is making big calls which meet with no rancour because they are proving to be correct.

Relegating captain Darren Fletcher was one such decision at the weekend, and likely to be repeated in Warsaw, so well did the marauding Brown and the steady James Morrison play at the heart of the midfield.

Indeed, one of the few moments of concern they gave came seven minutes from time when Steven Fletcher provided the killer pass to complete a penetrating move. Instead of Shaun Maloney or Ikechi Anya popping up in the box on the end of it, it was Morrison.

Strachan reflected: "We never said to anyone, 'You're a holding midfield player.' But Brownie can do that job, and so can James when it is required.

"There were times when our two midfielders disappeared, and I was left on the touchline saying, 'Where are you going?'

"To be fair, I think it was really only once, when they kind of lost themselves in the push for a second goal. James strolled through, beating people in the middle of the park, and Brownie was even further up the pitch.

"I was saying, 'Oh no, you can't be doing that as two central midfield players.' But, actually, Shaun spotted this and nicked back to help bail them out, which was good to see."

This is borne out of the hard work which is being done in the limited time Strachan has with his squad on the training field.

While the fans see the end product on match days, what is done in the days leading up to the games then transferred to the pitch is what gives Strachan most satisfaction.

He got the performance, but not the result, he wanted in Germany. On Saturday, he got both.

Strachan naturally is delighted to have a win behind them going into this vital game in Warsaw, but the 57-year-old has been around long enough to know it is what you do next that counts.

"You never know what is going to come up next," he explained. "All you can do is prepare as well as you can. Sometimes the football gods go against you. If the shot by Dzaria in the closing minutes had taken a deflection and gone in, that would have been unfair on us.

"But if that had happened, I could not have turned round to the players and said, 'You need to do better than that'.

"You can only ask them to do certain things. If they do them as they did on Saturday, that's fine by me, and, hopefully, it will be rewarded with positive results."