I am not saying Scotland will qualify for World Cup 2018 in Russia. That, as any follower of Scottish football knows, would be sheer madness. But what I am saying is that it could happen. The best price you will get at a bookmakers against Scotland qualifying from Group F is 5/1, which by my reckoning makes it 1,000 times more likely to occur than Leicester City were to win the Barclays Premier League last season. Granted, those same bookmakers will only give you a measly 1/5 if you want to spend your money wagering on Scotland not to qualify but stranger things have definitely happened. For those whose glass is inclined to be half full rather than half empty, here Herald Sport outlines the 10-point plan which could see us head to Moscow in the summer of 2018.

Step 1 - We stop feeling sorry for ourselves and forget all about the summer friendlies

These undoubtedly were an enormous waste of everybody's time, with the only tangible benefit being the chance to get a taste of Malta's Ta'Qali stadium, a fact which Gordon Strachan himself acknowledged afterwards. Everyone was demoralised enough by our failure to reach Euro 2016, while Northern Ireland and Wales did, without having our noses rubbed in it by Italy and France. So let's pretend they didn't happen.

Step 2 - We stop worrying about Malta and get off to a winning start

Fatalism abounds as Scotland travel to the Mediterranean. This Malta team, after all, only went down by a single goal (twice) against Italy in qualification, losing also by a solitary strike to Croatia and Bulgaria. Hearts, by the way, also lost to Birkirkara in the Europa League this year. This kind of talk seemed to spook the players ahead of their visit to Georgia in the previous campaign where defeat became a self-fulfilling prophesy. How about Malta worry about us for a change as we inflict on them another unfortunate single-goal setback.

Step 4 - We find a new blend in midfield

Scott Brown's departure provides a short-term dilemma but John McGinn is a younger, left-sided version. The 21-year-old Hibs man is ready to be eased into international football and brings a freshness to things alongside the veteran leadership of Darren Fletcher. Robert Snodgrass is also captain material and having him back soon is like finding a new player.

Step 3 - Big Sam struggles to a share of the spoils in Slovakia

England tend to sail through qualifying campaigns - they haven't lost a match in either a European Championship or World Cup qualifying group since 2009 - but while Scotland fret about a visit to Malta the mood in the England camp ahead of the visit to Trnava seems a little complacent. The Slovaks held England to a goalless draw at Euro 2016 while Allardyce, for all his domestic experience, is an international rookie who may require time to adjust to this level. A draw here and Scotland win could cause quite a momentum shift.

Step 4 - Leigh Griffiths displays Champions League class and takes that form into Scotland

The Griffiths experiment for Scotland so far has been a failure, even if he played the lone striker's role when we overcame the fourth placed team in world football in Croatia on their own patch. While a pre-Old Firm match injury saw him depart Mar Hall this week, Griffiths has linked play well and looked sharper than ever under Brendan Rodgers. The kind of player who can score goals from nothing, Scotland need to find a way to accommodate his firepower.

Step 5 - We get on a run and make Hampden a fortress again

Scotland were generally a strong home team during the previous campaign, even if our two most convincing home wins (ignoring Gibraltar) came at Ibrox and Celtic Park, against Georgia and the Republic of Ireland respectively. It took a scrambled last-minute equaliser from Robert Lewandowski to deprive us of a win against Poland, while there would have been more credit to be derived from our effort in a 3-2 defeat against Germany were it not for the fact that Poland and the Irish both managed to knock our efforts into a cocked hat. Putting the fear of God into opposition in Glasgow again would work wonders.

Step 7 - Oliver Burke lights it up in Leipzig as he turns out to be the Scottish Gareth Bale after all

Rather than be saddled by the tag of the most expensive Scottish player in history, Burke's grounded demeanour sees him excel in the old East Germany. A player with his pace and power on the counter attack wreaks havoc in away matches, and steals us some priceless points late on in games.

Step 6 - We invoke the spirit of '67 and hold our own against England

While the group's top seeds will be expecting to accelerate away from the rest, it is our job to keep them in a dogfight for as long as possible. Getting parity from our two meetings with them, a neat half century from Jim Baxter and his keepy-uppies, will boost our confidence hugely and dent theirs significantly. While the first arrives at Wembley in November, a levelling factor for the return match at Hampden is the fact it falls on June 10, fully 20 days after the FA Cup final. Scotland will begin to believe if Strachan can outsmart big Sam.

Step 9 - John Souttar fills the void as Scotland's next great central defender

They don't make them like Willie Miller and Alex McLeish anymore. No, but the game has moved on and in Souttar Scotland have unearthed a player of serious potential. Given the premium which Manchester City just paid for John Stones, it seems incredible that this 19-year-old ball-playing centre half is still at Hearts. A full season at Tynecastle will do him a world of good and it won't be long before he is a full Scotland international.

Step 10 - We hold our nerve in the play-off

While England inevitably come through to take the group honours, we avoid another fatalistically Scottish scenario of being the only second placed finisher which doesn't get a play-off place. A favourable draw in the play-off round helps, against a Hungary, a Sweden, or even an Iceland, as Scotland show the requisite bottle to book a place in their first major finals for 20 years. You know, I am not saying this will happen. But it could.