THE war cry was anticipated and straightforward. The execution of it threatens to be anything but.

The Tussle in Tbilisi is a fixture has banana skin written all over it, even if you take the nightmare suffered in 2007 out of the equation.

Eight years ago the Scots were murder in maroon as they went down 2-0 to a Georgia side that contained three teenagers - including a 17-year-old goalkeeper.

But over and above that night which still causes a shiver down the spine of anyone in a Glengarry that witnessed it, travelling to obscure corners of Europe on an expedition for precious qualification points against so-called lesser opposition is not something that comes easy to Scotland.

Lithuania, Slovenia, Belarus, Moldova and the Faroe Islands are just some of the less glamorous destinations that have failed to offer up victories over the years, and serve as a warning of the pitfalls of venturing off the beaten track.

It is a point Stuart McCall has underlined ahead of tonight's 5pm kick-off in Georgia.

The Scots will step out at the Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena knowing they have already defeated their opponents at Ibrox back in October in their maiden home match of this campaign and currently sit eight points clear of them in third spot.

Another win to take them closer to automatic qualification is the goal for Scotland once more tonight, but McCall has gone to great lengths to temper the expectation levels among the Tartan Army that tonight will be a walk in the park.

"You look at Georgia who have lost at home to Ireland, Poland and Germany," the Scotland coach told SportTimes.

"Ireland scored in the last minute. Even if you look back at the last game everyone says 'oh Poland beat them 4-0'. We all know Lewandowski scored in 89, 91 and 93 minutes. So they were only 1-0 down to Poland with almost the last kick of the game.

"We played quite well against Georgia at home and managed to only beat them with an own goal.

"Qualifying for Euro 96 we were in Bulgaria's group and we were waiting for them to draw to get through. There was also Romania in that group.

"It is good to be part of something when the Scottish football team gets talked about.

"There is a bit of excitement but we know it can change if we do not get the right results.

"We will be going all out to win the game and it also depends what happens elsewhere.

"I am not saying to come back with a point will not be a disaster as obviously there will be three games to go.

"We might go to Georgia and get a point and might get something against Germany and beat Poland.

"And that point is the one that gets us there."

Scotland will be backed in great numbers tonight in their penultimate away trip of the Group D qualifying campaign.

Over 10,000 Scots were in Dublin's Aviva Stadium back in June for Scotland's 1-1 draw with the Republic of Ireland, and McCall has revealed the boost the team have received upon the news that a record travelling support is set to be in Tbilisi this evening.

He said: "Someone told me we had sold the most travelling support to take to Georgia. I think we are taking the most supporters.

"Germany, Poland and the Republic of Ireland have all been out to Georgia but apparently we have sold more tickets than anybody.

"They will play a big part in hopefully getting the result that we need.

"Yes, it definitely does. The support has been outstanding since we came in but it has been throughout the years.

"The fans are sensing that we are on the verge of getting to a tournament that we have been trying to do for so long.

"We know we have done nothing yet. All the hard work is still ahead of us.

"We have put ourselves in a decent position but it is all to play for."

The complexion of Scotland's qualifying group is far from what most expected at this stage of proceedings when the campaign started in Dortmund a little over a month after their hosts Germany were crowned world champions.

Since that narrow 2-1 win for Joachim Low's team, the Germans have only managed to win three games since, leaving them facing the prospect of being four points behind Poland with three games left if they lose in Frankfurt tonight.

That could mean they come to Hampden on Monday below Scotland in the group, knowing another slip up could be fatal to their hopes of finishing top, or even second. It is a series of scenarios that McCall is intrigued by.

"Right at the beginning everyone would expect Germany, as world champions, to win," said the former Motherwell and Rangers manager.

"When that is the case you want them to go and beat everyone else, obviously apart from ourselves. Then Ireland went and scored a last minute equaliser in Germany and Poland beat them for the first time in their history.

"And Germany are now with us. If they go into the Poland game and not get a win they might be under pressure for the game at Hampden.

"We just don't know and that has been the beauty of the group."

He added: "In the group everyone thought Germany would be up there and then it would be a four way fight between ourselves, Poland, Ireland and Georgia.

"Obviously Georgia have slipped out of that but they still have players that can be a threat to us. Especially on their own patch.

"We are all looking forward to it."