David Marshall has watched on proudly from the Scotland goal as close friend Shaun Maloney has emerged as a key figure for his country, as the seemingly endless quest to achieve qualification for a major tournament brings our national side back to Tbilisi on Friday evening.
With just two international goals to his name prior to the Euro 2016 qualification campaign, there would have been few in the Tartan Army that would have predicted the impact that the diminutive attacker would have on Group D.
Marshall though, himself proving a star turn in the international spotlight after years of waiting in the wings, always knew Maloney had it in him, and has predicted that he will have a further part to play as the group reaches it's climactic stage.
Speaking at his old school, St Thomas' Primary in Riddrie as he supported Tesco Bank's Football Challenge, Marshall said: “He’s been brilliant.
“He’s played really well and scored some great goals. The goal in Ireland in the summer was massive for us but so was the goal against Ireland at home.
“I expect him to be a big player again in our remaining games.”
Maloney has netted four goals in six group games so far - all whilst dealing with the strain of a transatlantic commute from Chicago on his 32-year-old frame.
After clinching a deal to return to British shores with Hull City earlier in the week, one can only imagine then what his form might be like in the four massive games that Scotland have ahead of them if the dream of qualification for France is to become a reality.
“I texted him when I first read he was linked with a move in the paper,” said Marshall.
“He’s happy to come back. I think he feels a bit more comfortable being back in the UK because it’s a lot of travelling over in the USA. Then when he gets back here it takes him a couple of days to get back into the time zone.
“He was sleeping for two days in a row! But in terms of performance it’s not affected him so far.
“But Georgia is quite a long trip. We are travelling on Wednesday, Shaun normally wouldn’t be here until the Monday morning, and he would maybe feel that it would end up affecting him eventually. He’s done that well in the group so far and he probably didn’t want it to become an issue.
“He would be coming from America to Glasgow to Georgia and that’s three different time zones. He probably feels a bit more comfortable being in the UK and not having to do that.
“Being back and ready for internationals shows his commitment. But he’s always been a committed player. He’s always been first class.”
Marshall can be forgiven for having only foggy memories of his last trip to Tbilisi in 2007, where he watched from the bench as Scotland’s Euro 2008 hopes were mortally wounded. After all, most supporters of the national side have been trying to forget it ever since.
But Marshall has moved to allay the fears of anyone in the Tartan Army spooked by the similarities between the build-up to both matches. On the one-hand, with morale soaring and results going well, a trip to face the second-bottom side in the group should hold no fears.
On the other hand, there is a nagging feeling that Georgia are not quite as bad as their lowly position suggests.
“Everyone was really confident,” he recalled.
“We went into the game having a really good chance of qualifying. It just didn’t happen for us that night.
“It was a shock to lose the game. It’s something we can’t really speak about as a squad because there probably only two or three boys there.
“It will be a totally different game. We know how tough it’s going to be. Ireland struggled there until the last minute when Aiden (McGeady) scored in their first game.
“In international football there are not a lot of chances in games, so taking your chances and trying to keep a clean sheet is massive.”
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