POLAND are fascinating opponents for Scotland to have drawn in the Euro 2016 qualifiers because, in many respects, there are striking similarities between the two nations.

Both countries had a high standard of player in the 1970s and 1980s. Although, it must be said, Poland enjoyed far greater success at major tournaments.

They finished third in the 1974 World Cup in West Germany when Kazimierz Deyna and Grzegorz Lato were their star players.

That was a feat they repeated in 1982 in Spain when Zbigniew Boniek was their main man. While we certainly boasted several world-class players ourselves at that time and regularly qualified for the World Cup Finals, we did not achieve what they did when we got there.

But Poland have, like Scotland, fallen quite a bit since those heady days.

They have been victims of circumstance. They are a mid-ranking, central eastern European country that borders Germany.

Yes, they qualified for the World Cup in 2002 and 2006 and the European Championships in 2008 and 2012.

They have qualified for finals far more often than we have in recent times. But they have not done themselves justice when they have done so. In the modern era, Poland have, like Scotland, not been especially confident taking the game to the opposition.

They like to sit back. Their natural approach to a game is to sit back and try to counter-attack.

Now, though, they have a few impressive individuals in their squad and there is hope they can perform better, far better, on the international stage.

Their main player is, without question, Robert Lewandowski, their captain. The Borussia Dortmund striker is one of the deadliest predators in European football.

He is tall, an excellent finisher and can lead the line by himself. He plays his club football with three attacking midfielders operating behind him. When he signed for Dortmund from Lech Poznan in 2010 he was a virtual unknown.

But he has dealt with the considerable pressure of playing up front in the Westfalenstadion and has gone from strength to strength.

He will not be involved for Poland in the friendly in Warsaw tonight, but he will be their main threat in the Euro 2016 qualifiers. He will have to be watched closely by Scotland.

Jakub Blaszczykowski, who plays with Lewandowski at Dortmund, is also a dangerous opponent.

He plays either as a right-back or a right-sided midfielder and is a potent threat going forward.

In goal, Poland have a player who is familiar to Scottish football fans, the former Celtic No.1 Artur Boruc. On his day, Boruc is an outstanding keeper.

Elsewhere, I also like Kamil Glik, who plays in Serie A in Italy with Torino, a great deal. He is a very strong centre-half. I am sure a few more of their players will come to the fore in the forthcoming qualifying campaign.

Polish football is often beset by politics and there is frequent unhappiness with who is in charge. The current manager is their former player Adam Nawalka, who has not been at the helm for long.

Our recent meetings have always been close and I imagine our Euro 2016 qualifiers will be as well. It will be interesting to see who prevails in what are sure to be keenly-contested encounters.