THE world Stoptober refers to a month-long crusade to encourage people to give up smoking but perhaps this year it might also apply to the national football team’s attempt to stop the rot when it comes to our nasty habit of failing to qualify for major tournaments. As unlikely as the qualification equation appeared when Scotland had gleaned just four points from their first four games, Gordon Strachan and his side have fulfilled the first part of the bargain. Ten points out of the last 12 available (you could argue it would have been all 12 were it not for a collective brain freeze suffered in injury time against England) mean that all roads will lead to Hampden Park for the visit of second-placed Slovakia on Thursday October 5. The national stadium was only half full for the visit of Malta on Monday night but the SFA should have no issues shifting tickets for that one.

Those members of the Tartan Amy whose glass is perpetually half full - if it is, it certainly doesn’t tend to be for long - have got their path through the various permutations mapped out already. Victory over the Slovaks at Hampden and the quest for second place rolls over to the group’s last day in Ljubljana; another win out there and a play-off spot is surely ours, with both Bosnia or Greece in Group H or even the Repuublic of Ireland or Wales in Group D likely to limp into second with a lower tally. All we would have to do then is take care of Italy, Portugal, Sweden or Northern Ireland in a two-legged play-off and we would be there.

Not so fast. Because going on previous experience, Scotland’s stirring exploits thus far in 2017 is merely the easy part. The next step is consolidating our progress in an all-or-nothing home meeting against one of the major nations at the business end of a group section. And both Slovakia, and Slovenia, have done significantly more than us in recent times. You need look no further than Italy in November 2007, the Czech Republic in September 2011, or Poland in October 2015 for examples of Mount Florida showdowns which ended in regret and recrimination.

The pattern is often the same. Scotland put in a brave performance on the day - perhaps even playing above himself - only for the margin to boil down a poor decision or two which leaves tabloid newspapers sourcing a foreign referee’s home address as they scour the continent for a scapegoat to pin it on. Who could forget the free kick that never was against Alan Hutton back in 2007, or Jan Rezek conning the referee for to the ground in the vicinity of Danny Wilson as Michal Kadlec’s late penalty broke Craig Levein’s heart in 2011? Or, to bring it right up date, Robert Lewandowski finishing close range in the last campaign, shortly after the Hampden crowd had learned that Shane Long had helped the Republic of Ireland achieve the unimaginable by beating World Champions Germany?

James Morrison is a grizzled veteran of this stuff so we should listen to the Darlington-born 31-year-old when he says that the only reason it should be any different this time around is if this Scotland side can prove they are capable of seeing out big wins when the World Cup chips are down. A little bit of luck along the way would help too, but this young Scotland team need to prove they can handle the situation.

“It’s about those little moments,” said Morrison. “You can look to the goal Chris [Martin] scored against Slovenia, but you can also look at the goal we lost at the end the game against England. That killed us that day. Imagine if we had taken three points there?

“Little things matter in football and I think this team needs to learn how to see games out,” he added. “I think that might be crucial in these next two games. We have to put that right because it has happened a few times in the past. You also just need things to go for you sometimes in these big games. When we played the Czech Republic, it was down to a decision. So hopefully we can get a bit of luck in these next two matches. But what you definitely can see is that everyone is working really hard for each other and that is a big positive.”

Unlike the previous campaign, Scotland seem to be gathering momentum rather than losing it. “If you remember the last campaign we started off on fire and then faded,” said Morrison. “Hopefully it has turned around this time and we can keep the run going. We are not the most physical team but we have pace on the wings now. You want young fresh blood coming through into the squad, I think we need more of it. The chemistry in the team is good just and hopefully we can keep that momentum with a fully fit squad and not many suspensions. I include myself in that because I have not had many games. It would mean everything if we could go and win those next two matches.”

There is a stirring in the hearts of the Tartan Army again alright. But Scotland still needs an October revolution if it is to reach Russia next summer.