ON THE face of it, a friendly international in Warsaw would appear to hold as much significance as it does global attention.

Neither Poland nor Scotland are honing their skills ahead of an assault on the World Cup in Brazil.

Indeed, both countries are licking their wounds after disappointing qualifying campaigns, and marking time ahead of the 2016 European Championship process beginning.

However, Gordon Strachan - a manager with a self-confessed aversion to non-competitive matches, carried over from his playing days - takes a much more serious view of Wednesday in Warsaw.

With last weekend's qualifying draw for Euro 2016 having paired the Scots with the Poles in Group D - their first meeting is on October 14 in Poland - Strachan was at his wittiest as he suggested he would field backroom staff and a few retired players in this week's game in an attempt to disguise the threat he believes Scotland will pose when the action begins for real.

On a more serious note, Strachan will want to lay down a marker in Warsaw, and leave Polish manager, Adam Nawalka with plenty to think about.

He also wants his players to come away from this game with reason to believe they can compete with a Polish side being rebuilt after years of under-performing.

A country which can call up Robert Lewandowski and his Borussia Dortmund team-mates, Jakub Blaszczykowski and Lukasz Piszczek, has to be respected.

However, Poland's results - they were a bitter disappointment finishing bottom of their section when co-hosts of Euro 2012 and finished fourth in their 2014 World Cup group behind England, Ukraine and Montenegro -confirm that, even with star quality, collectively, they are not the team they were a decade ago.

They have plummeted to 70th in the Fifa rankings, 36 places below Scotland.

But, like Scotland, they are confident better times lie ahead. Their fanatical fans - and nowhere are they more passionate than Warsaw - wait to be convinced.

By contrast, the Tartan Army have bought into the change of fortune which has been overseen by Strachan since he succeeded Craig Levein 13 months ago.

The momentum built up, both by results, but, more importantly, performances, has given a solid foundation for fresh optimism that the long wait for another appearance at a major finals is about to come to an end.

Strachan is very protective of the feelgood factor which has replaced the doom and gloom that characterised the end of Levein's reign.

But he is acutely aware it is a fragile commodity which can be shattered by a single bad night.

Which is why Poland as this week's opposition have been chosen only after careful consideration.

The Euro 2016 qualifying draw has since brought an unwanted dimension to the friendly.

Strachan will down play the significance of the result, but he will not want to suffer a bloody nose.

He will hope that Warsaw provides as many happy memories as it has in the past.

It is a city he knows well. He was based there while working as an analyst for ITV during the Euro 2012 finals.

Prior to that, it was to Warsaw he headed when appointed manager of Celtic in 2005 to recruit goalkeeper Artur Boruc. Strachan readily acknowledges the big part the Holy Goalie played in helping the Hoops win three SPL titles in a row.

And no one has been happier to see the now-34-year-old perform so well for Southampton that he is contesting once again for the No.1 spot in the Polish team.

Given that Arsenal duo, Wojciech Szczesny and Lukasz Fabianksi, are also included in Nawalka's squad for this match, Boruc might be a bit-part player on Wednesday.

But the competition for the Scotland keeper's position is no less intense, with the man Boruc caused to up sticks and leave Celtic in pursuit of first-team football, David Marshall, now proving a more-than- capable challenger to Allan McGregor.

The bad luck which plagued Marshall in the formative years of his career at Parkhead and with Scotland has finally loosened its grip on him.

He was in goal the night the Hoops shipped five goals to Artmedia Bratislava in Strachan's first game in charge of the club.

Three days later, he lost another four in a goal-fest draw at Motherwell.

For the next match, the return leg against Artmedia, Boruc was handed his debut, and proved virtually impossible to shift from that night on.

However, the confidence which allowed the teenage Marshall to defy Barcelona - Ronaldinho, et al - in the Nou Camp never left him.

And his decision to head south, first of all to Norwich, then on to Cardiff, has carried him back to the very top.

Indeed, while the Bluebirds are struggling to get out of the relegation zone in the Premier League, Marshall has been in a league of his own, recording more saves than any other keeper in the division, several in the breathtaking category.

Strachan has huge respect for a man who shows resilience in the face of adversity, and said of Marshall: "If you can take knocks in football and come back, which David has done, it makes you a stronger personality. He is still a quiet lad off the field, but has a personality on it."

McGregor's lack of recent game time with Hull City, after suspension and injury, could see Marshall, the man in possession of the jersey, win his 11th cap in Warsaw.

But Strachan concedes he has a big decision to make with regard to who is cast in the role of No.1 for the future.

It is a problem he welcomes, with players competing for places very important to him, but not rated any higher than having everyone in the squad supporting one another.

Strachan recognises that, bereft of genuine stars, Scotland can only find success again as a unit.

This week's game will provide another opportunity to develop the team spirit and bond which lies at the heart of this regeneration of Scotland the brave.