WHEN it comes to beating the Germans on their own turf I have been there, done it and got the T-shirt.

I wouldn't say the salmon-pink strip we wore when we beat them 1-0 in a friendly in Bremen in April 1999, courtesy of a Don Hutchinson goal, is one of my favourites - it is in a bag up in my loft, not one of the ones hanging up - but that match definitely goes down as one of my best memories as a Scotland player.

Before I start comparing that match 15 years ago to the one that takes place in Dortmund tonight, I have to stress that qualifying matches are completely different.

They had a star-studded team back then - I was marked by the likes of Lothar Matthaus and Jens Nowotny, while Oliver Bierhoff played up front - but they might have had their eye off the ball a wee bit.

But we were organised and tactically spot-on in that game and the same has to apply to Scotland this time.

We didn't even look like giving a goal away and ended up enjoying the game. Any chance we had of pulling off any kind of result was dependent on us handling everything that came our way, and we certainly did that.

Fifteen years on, though, I would be utterly delighted if we could nick a point because the facts are there in black and white about how good this Germany team are.

Winning a World Cup in South America, as they did in July was something no European team had done, and to rout Brazil the way they did - although the hosts were all over the place - then overcome Argentina in the final shows you just how good they are.

They had to handle a difficult climate, all manner of different situations, but they just steam- rollered through whatever job was put in front of them.

That sums up German football for me. They have a series of attributes that they can use in different situations. While Spain had unbelievable football players, you always felt that if you got a set-piece against them you might score.

But I don't think you can really say there any chinks in Germany's armour. If their opponents make the game physical, they can handle it. If a team try to take them on they have the technical ability to handle that too. If you try to sit off the game and camp in they will eventually still get through because of the guile of guys like Mario Gotze, Marco Reus and Andre Schurrle.

So to get anything tonight we will need to defend really well, get a bit of luck and our goalkeeper will need to have a stormer. But Scotland have pulled off these kind of results in the past and can do it again.

You might say this is as good a time to get Germany as any. Per Mertesacker, Philipp Lahm and Miroslav Klose have retired, and Bastian Schweinsteiger, Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira, Mats Hummels and Julian Draxler are all out injured.

There is inexperience in their team, in the form of full-back Eric Durm and midfielder Christoph Kramer, and that has to give us a bit of extra confidence.

But this is Germany we are talking about and they still have some great players despite losing so many of the guys who were at the World Cup.

When Lukas Podolski said the Scots will play dirty tonight, what I think he meant to say was physical. We will go 4-2-3-1, no doubt about it. It is a pity Scott Brown in particular is not going to be there because he and Charlie Mulgrew have been starting to look the part in those deep midfield roles.

Our goalkeeping position is incredibly strong. Although Allan McGregor played in the friendly against Nigeria, David Marshall played in the last competitive match and I wouldn't be surprised if he kept his place. It is a hard decision, but I don't think we should be worrying about it. Any of the three would be fine by me.

At the back, Grant Hanley and Russell Martin look a good partnership and I think they might get the nod over Gordon Greer. Steven Whittaker is solid and experienced enough to take on the left-back berth, although Mulgrew might be moved in there, with James McArthur coming into one of the deep roles in midfield.

But in all likelihood it will be Darren Fletcher and Mulgrew mopping things up in midfield, and maybe a front three of Barry Bannan, Shaun Maloney and Ikechi Anya. James Morrison could be involved to keep us tactically solid, but while we can't kid ourselves that we are going to go over and attack, Gordon Strachan tends to like pacy, forward-thinking players in the wide areas.

Although Steven Fletcher and Chris Martin are also good options, I think he will go with Steven Naismith up front because he has been playing out of his skin there for club and country.

I think we will lose but I would take that as long as we see a really good performance that would bode well for the rest of the Euro 2016 qualifiers. I am usually optimistic at the start of a campaign but with this one it is more than that - I have a bit of genuine belief. We are essentially playing in a mini group against the Republic of Ireland, Poland and maybe Georgia and I am upbeat that we can qualify for the first time in a long time.

GORDON Strachan can afford a defeat but I am not sure Roy Hodgson can. I don't think he has ever been flavour of the month with the press south of the border and if they get a chance to stick the knife in then they will definitely take it.

The only thing that can stop that happening is for England to play well and at the moment that is just not happening. They are not looking fluent and tomorrow night's opponents Switzerland are a decent side.