Scotland's First Minister has said the independence vote is a "once in a generation" opportunity as he pledged not to bring back another referendum if Scots choose to remain in the UK.

As a series of polls indicate the vote on Thursday remains too close to call, Alex Salmond said one vote would be enough to win, but insisted the Yes campaign was hoping for a "substantial majority".

He said that work was already under way to assemble a team of specialists to negotiate terms with the rest of the UK in the event of a vote for independence.

Several new polls show a slim lead for the No camp, with one suggesting the pro-independence side had a lead of eight points - the reverse of the picture in a poll commissioned by Better Together.

No leads by 50.6% to 49.4%, according to Panelbase for the Sunday Times and - with undecideds taken out - by 53% to 47% in research by Opinium for the Observer.

An ICM poll for the Sunday Telegraph put the Yes camp in front by 54% to 46%, although it had a smaller than usual sample size of 705.

And a Survation poll commissioned by Better Together found that 54% plan to vote No while 46% intend to say Yes, factoring out undecided voters.

Mr Salmond told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show: "Harold Wilson famously (said) one vote is enough in a referendum but we're not aiming to win by one vote, we're aiming to achieve a substantial majority if we can."

He added: "If you remember that previous constitutional referendum in Scotland - there was one in 1979 and then the next one was 1997. That's what I mean by a political generation.

"In my opinion, and it is just my opinion, this is a once in a generation opportunity for Scotland."

Asked if he could pledge not to bring back another referendum if the Yes campaign does not win on Thursday, he said: "That's my view. My view is this is a once in a generation, perhaps even a once in a lifetime, opportunity for Scotland."

Mr Salmond said that following a Yes vote there would be "urgent business" to bring the country together.

He said: "Firstly it will be a day of celebration, Scotland will have achieved something astonishing in democratic politics.

"The first and urgent business is to bring Scotland together, because on Friday after a Yes vote there will cease to be a Yes campaign and a No campaign, there will be a Team Scotland.

"I've said very clearly that I want into that Team Scotland as many voices as possible, people who have got something to offer and contribute.

"We need and have recruited specialists in a variety of fields, some extraordinary people with great things to contribute. Nobody has said no incidentally."

Mr Salmond said he would be happy to include political opponents in the campaign in such a team, including former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Better Together leader Alistair Darling, and claimed Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael and Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont had indicated they would join.

The First Minister said the Queen and her successors would remain heads of state in an independent Scotland, as that was what Scots wanted.