IT could, and probably should, have been his crowning glory. But instead Euro 2008 became James McFadden’s biggest regret.

As he boarded the flight for Tbilisi in October 2007, the Everton player had a spring in his step and no mistake. This gallus wee forward was approaching national treasure status, having scored in each of Scotland’s last three competitive matches. Not least of these was the imperious sweep of his left boot in Paris a month earlier which had completed a memorable double of victories against the French and left Zinedine Zidane, Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry and co. needing favours from the rest of Group B to overhaul Scotland at the top of the table.

Instead, as few people in Scotland need reminding - not least Faddy himself - things started to go seriously awry. An off-colour display from an unfamiliar side clad in unfortunate ‘limited edition’ maroon strips saw Alex McLeish’s side go down 2-0 to a ramshackle Georgian outfit which manager Klaus Toppmoller appeared to have freshly re-inforced with teenagers rounded up from a local high school playground. He fielded a 17-year-old debutant goalkeeper and striker, with a 16-year-old midfielder pulling the strings.

News of the result spread across the continent swiftly. It filtered across to St Etienne, where a nervy France side rediscovered their poise sufficiently first to scramble a home win against Lithuania then take a point away to Ukraine. That was enough for second place in the group, while Scotland, suddenly tasked with winning rather than merely garnering a point against World Champions Italy, fell just short. Rather than playing keep ball to see out the 1-1 draw which would have taken us to Belgium and Holland, the spectre of Georgia re-emerged as they got caught chasing the game in injury time and ended up losing the match.

All of that, of course, is history. Even if some members of the Scotland squad might feel they are living it all over again. Fast forward eight years and the similarities with Scotland’s current circumstances are uncanny. Once again Scotland travel to Tbilisi with purpose, having compiled their finest qualifying campaign since that 2008 vintage. The likes of Darren Fletcher and Shaun Maloney are veterans of that night who need no reminding, but the message from McFadden is clear. Don’t leave Tbilisi again with any regrets, because those regrets will never leave you.

“I obviously have bad memories of Georgia the last time,” said McFadden. “I don’t know if maybe sub consciously we took our foot off the gas because we thought ‘this should be easy’. It was a tough game. I should have had a penalty. It was a definite penalty, which could have changed the game. We had a few call offs. So there were a few players got called up who hadn’t been involved and went straight into the team.

“That was the one that got away,” he added. “If we had won that game, we wouldn’t have had to win against Italy. We could have drawn it and still qualified. And the way we played in that campaign we probably should have done. I wouldn’t say it eats away at you but when a major championships comes around again you always think ‘what a great chance we had’. The disappointment and regret that you never got there is something that I don’t think will ever leave you.”

It is 30 months since McFadden last featured in a Scotland squad, during that traumatic 2-1 Hampden win against Liechtenstein, but he still uses a personal pronoun when he talks about the national team. The way this current Scotland group like to get the ball down and create would certainly have appealed to him.

“We don’t want to go away again from Georgia saying ‘we should have won that game’,” said McFadden. “It is a game we should win. Gordon Strachan will have the boys ready, they will be up for it because there are ones there who have been involved in near misses or whatever. They want to go and put it right.”

As 2007 showed, though, getting the balance right between attacking intent and caution can be no easy thing. At international level, pride is always at stake. “At the end of the day it is still an international game,” said McFadden. “It is a game for the Georgians to go and represent their country, so they will want to put a show on for their young fans. There is no pressure on them which makes it even more difficult. But if we play the way we did in the first game against them I think we will be alright. Gordon likes to set up a high tempo game and that is the way the games have been. That is why we have done well. We have good players, with good energy, and he will try to exploit that. If we apply ourselves we will win the game.”

McFadden, currently without a club but training at his spiritual home of Fir Park, is delighted to be playing a part in tomorrow’s testimonial match for his friend Keith Lasley. The pair broke into the Motherwell first team at roughly the same time, and the 32-year-old is also surprised that Lasley never got the chance to follow him into the international team.

“Keith was underrated, and he still is,” said McFadden. “People think he is getting on a bit and his legs are going to go but he is still fit as a fiddle. He still covers the ground and is still an important part of the team. He doesn’t just run about and tackle people, he gets on the ball, sets the tempo and gets the ball down. Certainly in my last year here if he wasn’t playing we wouldn’t have won. Of course it would have been tough to get into a Scotland midfield but other people got the chance to stake a claim and he never quite got it. He probably won’t admit it – because nobody ever does – but at times he was probably quite upset not to be involved or even spoken about.”

If McFadden was Berti Vogts’ “cheeky boy”, what did that make Lasley? “He just didn’t get caught doing anything!” says McFadden with a mischievous grin.