WE asked our expert (cough) team of football writers to name the Scotland team THEY think should start against Lithuania and what the score will be on Saturday night. As always, we are right on the money.

A wave of optimism seems to have wafted through Herald and Times towers because everyone has gone for a win for the good guys, as long as the manager takes heed and replicates our selections.

Gordon, you are more than welcome.

Read more: Scotland squad selector: Pick your XI to start against Lithuania on SaturdayThe Herald:

Matthew Lindsay

Scotland (4-2-3-1): Marshall; Patterson, R Martin, Hanley, Tierney; D Fletcher, Bannan; Burke, Ritchie, Snodgrass; Griffiths

Prediction: Scotland 2, Lithuania 1

Gordon Strachan has declined to call this Group F game against Lithuania a must-win and with eight games and 24 points still to be played for after it he has a point.

But defeat at home to the second bottom seeds in the section will be a hammer blow to the national team's prospects of reaching Russia 2018. Victory, meanwhile, will build some momentum after the 5-1 win over Malta last month.

I would expect the national team to prevail given what is at stake. They certainly have goals in them, as we saw in Ta'Qali, and should be too strong for their visitors.

Neil Cameron

Scotland: (4-2-3-1): Marshall; Paterson, Hanley, Martin, Tierney; Fletcher, McArthur; Burke, Snodgrass, Ritchie; Griffiths

Prediction: Scotland 3, Lithuania 1

Here’s an idea. Let’s fill the team with players in form where possible and that means starting Tierney, McArthur and Griffiths, who is fit again and desperate to play.

It is always tempting to start with Shaun Maloney; however, those three who will operate just behind the striker are arguably our best players and did well in Malta. They need to go again.

Lithuania aren’t up to much. They will score, our defensive problems remain, but we will win by a few.

Alison McConnell

Scotland: (4-2-3-1): Marshall; Paterson, Hanley, Martin, Tierney; Fletcher, Bannan, Snodgrass, Maloney, Ritchie; Griffiths.

Prediction:  Scotland 2, Lithuania 0

It is ridiculously early days in this qualification campaign and yet already we speak of must-win games. To be fair, Scotland are in pretty solid company as the fight for a way into their first major tournament since 1998 and all games at Hampden will fall into the must-take-something variety.

It is likely that they will face a pretty stern time of it next Tuesday night so it is imperative that they go into that game against Slovakia on the back of a strong performance and all three points.

It is for this reason that there is a suspicion, unfounded perhaps on my part that Gordon Strachan may go for a mixture of youth and experience. In Kieran Tierney he has a full-back who is untested at this level but who has excelled at club level at the highest level which he can play at, while in Leigh Griffiths he has a striker itching to prove a point.

Griffiths, again, does not have a wealth of international experience but he is an instinctive finisher in a game where Scotland need to look for goals. The likes of Shaun Maloney and Darren Fletcher know this course particularly well and can lend experienced heads to the cause.

These are early days and there is still some cautious optimism about the campaign following the 5-1 thumping of Malta. Another win would at least keep that going.

Chris Jack

Scotland (4-2-3-1): Marshall; Paterson, Hanley, Martin, Tierney; D Fletcher, McArthur; Ritchie, Snodgrass, Burke; Griffiths

Prediction: Scotland 2, Lithuania 0

This is a must-win game for Scotland and Gordon Strachan’s side should get the job done at Hampden.

We will have to live with the doubts over the defence throughout the campaign but the attacking talent in the squad gives the Tartan Army a reason to be optimistic. If we want to qualify, this is the kind of game that we just have to win.

Scott Mullen

Scotland (4-3-1-2): Marshall, Paterson, Martin, Hanley, Tierney; Forrest, D Fletcher, Maloney; Snodgrass; S Fletcher, Griffiths

Prediction: Scotland 3, Lithuania 0

Henry McLeish said earlier in the week that the time for excuses with Scotland is over. The former East Fife legend has a point.

There may be those around the national team who are fearful of tagging this game as a must-win, but that is undoubtedly what it is in front of a Hampden crowd yearning for not just a win but a performance.

The goals were flying in Malta and against a Lithuania side ranked 117th in the world, it is the perfect platform for this Scotland team to show they can be bold, be brave, and, most importantly, be feared in this group.

Graeme McGarry

Scotland (4-2-3-1): Marshall; Paterson, R Martin, Hanley, Robertson; Fletcher, Bannan; Burke, Ritchie, Snodgrass; S Fletcher.

Prediction: Scotland 2, Lithuania 0

Gordon Strachan should stick largely with the men who did so well in Malta, and I fancy them to have enough about them to get the win despite the slight step up in opposition.

I wasn’t convinced by the central defensive partnership between Russell Martin and Grant Hanley, but it will be the weakest area of the side regardless of who we put in there, and I’d like to see them get a run together to try to strike up an understanding.

I would bring in the more mobile Steven Fletcher for Chris Martin despite the Fulham man getting a goal and winning a penalty in Valetta, and if Oliver Burke can feed off his hold up play then we should be able to get in behind the Lithuanians and win in relative comfort.

Stewart Fisher

Scotland (4-2-3-1): Marshall; Paterson, Martin, Hanley, Robertson; D Fletcher, Bannan; Burke, Ritchie, Snodgrass; Fletcher

Prediction: Scotland 2, Lithuania 1

After the euphoria (kind of) in Malta, Scotland face the kind of fraught assignment against a stubborn opponent which has proved our undoing in the past. Under the charge of former Hearts striker Edgaras Jankauskas, Lithuania are coming off a poor Euro 2016 qualifying campaign but they will camp in against the Scots and make the hosts work for everything. 

As well as they played in spells in Malta, Gordon Strachan has a couple of dilemmas with his team selection. Most pertinently is whether to bring in Leigh Griffiths, who has been a victim of Moussa Dembele's club form at Celtic, up front instead of Chris Martin, who played in Malta but hasn't been setting the heather alight with Fulham. Steven Fletcher has been starting games with Sheffield Wednesday, and occasionally scoring, so he may yet be the shout, although Griffiths' ability to score a goal out of nothing should put him into consideration too. With the Lithuanians' likely to surrender territory, he could even change his formation and go with two up front. 

I expect this to be a difficult evening, with Lithuania getting at least some joy on the counter attack. But there was much to admire about the way the Scotland midfield functioned in Malta and I am backing them to deliver another win here.