CHARLIE Mulgrew has been in this position before.
He was in a team whose chances of getting a result against world-class opponents in a group game had been written off when Celtic played Barcelona in the Champions League back in 2012.
But his side duly defied all expectations and recorded a famous 2-1 victory against seemingly insurmountable odds to help ensure they went through to the knockout rounds of Europe’s premier club competition for only the third time.
Few Scotland fans have given Gordon Strachan’s men much hope of defeating Gareth Southgate’s charges in the Russia 2018 qualifier at Hampden tomorrow.
Read more: Harry Kane: "Scotland versus England still means something. It will be like a derby game"
The visitors to Glasgow, who are able to call on the services of, among others, Gary Cahill, Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling, are undefeated in five Group F matches and are four points clear at the top of their section.
The home team, meanwhile, is in fourth place after a bitterly disappointing campaign and in serious danger of missing out on another World Cup finals.
However, Mulgrew, set to start at centre half in front of a sell-out 50,000 crowd, knows from personal experience that upsets can and do happen and is confident that if the national team perform at their very best they can triumph and increase their prospects.
“Every player goes into every game believing they can get something,” he said. “That night when Celtic played Barcelona there must have been belief among us to get something or else we wouldn’t have achieved it.
“The manager back then (Neil Lennon) was good at giving us that wee bit of hope and highlighting the areas where we could score goals and be effective. The manager here (Strachan) is just as good at preparing us for matches and having that bit of belief.
Read more: Harry Kane: "Scotland versus England still means something. It will be like a derby game"
“That night against Barcelona was huge for us. Nobody gave us a chance, but we pulled off a victory. I really hope we can do the same on Saturday.”
Having lined up against Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi and Xavi Hernandez and prevailed on that memorable evening five years ago, Mulgrew won’t be daunted by the calibre of player he will face this weekend.
If anything, the vastly-experienced 31-year-old defender expects the quality of opponent to bring out the very best in him.
“They are always in your head because of how good they are,” he said. “But I think it maybe sharpens you up a bit, maybe sharpens your senses, when you realise how good these players are. All of a sudden you need to stop them.”
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