The English football writers were not the friendliest bunch when I first blundered onto the scene down south.

Maybe it was my Scottish insecurity at work, but I felt quite genuinely that whenever the two press packs were forced together at internationals or in the Champions League, we were all in the Beano: they were Lord Snooty and his gang while us Jocks were very much the Bash Street Kids.

My take was they all went to public school – and of course I may be way out here – while we overwhelmingly came from working-class backgrounds and didn’t go to fee-paying schools but rather schools which served free meals.

Read more: Six of the best Auld Enemy matches: Scotland 1 England 0 (1964)

These commanders of the written word covered the big teams in the world’s greatest league. They watched England qualify for everything, while since 1998 it’s been something of a barren spell up here. I am made to feel inferior in my own house, so these posh blokes certainly brought out the worst in my paranoia.

Times have changed. The English lads who will travel up tomorrow for Saturday’s game are, by and large, really friendly, helpful and utterly decent sorts, as well as being hugely talented at what they do. Three years spent down south put me in close contact with them and, in fact, they are just like us. Who’d have thunk it?

Back in November, in the week before the game at Wembley, a rabble of us, and that’s the only collective noun I can use, spent a few days in Burton, where St George’s Park is situated, for the England media days.

The English journos were accommodating, the FA’s media people made sure we could ask Gareth Southgate and selected players our own specific questions and, best of all, those I once treated with suspicion insisted on transcribing all the quotes from every press conference as we had, ‘Come all the way down there’ and they just felt it was the right thing to do. That was above and beyond.

They were keen to know how we were getting on with Brendan Rodgers, what wee Gordon had been like of late and at that time more than a few were keen to discuss Mark Warburton.

Read more: Six of the best Auld Enemy matches: Scotland 1 England 0 (1964)

But then came the day when we spoke to Southgate himself. They English boys got first dibs and had a good half hour or so firing questions at the England manager. This was on the Thursday, 24 hours before the game, and literally not a single question was about Scotland. We didn’t merit a mention.

Us lot did get our chance at the end but by then I felt too embarrassed to ask Southgate, lovely chap that he is, about Leigh Griffiths because I honestly wondered if he’d know who the hell I was talking about.

This wasn’t English arrogance. Not a bit of it. The guys were simply doing their job. Their desks in London weren’t interested at all in the Scotland team. They wanted to know about Wayne Rooney’s position, the form of John Stones and whether Southgate was going to take on the role full-time, which back then was still up in the air.

If one of them had phoned their sports editor trying to pitch a 1200-word piece on the merits of Scott Brown he would have been on a written warning by the end of the day. I would imagine in the 1970s the English hacks would have raised the names of Kenny Dalglish, Denis Law and Joe Jordan to whoever was in charge of England come the Home Internationals.

Back at St George’s Park, it was difficult to shake off the feeling we were irrelevant; that all England had to do was turn up and they would win, which is exactly what happened, and even now the shame is hard to shake.

It’s been the same this week. England have put up a lot of players for interview but I’m willing to bet the family fortune that Harry Kane hasn’t been asked about Russell Martin.

However, despite this negativity, among the Scottish fitba’ scribes, a fine body of men and women one and all, an air of optimism has taken over. “I really fancy us to get something,” has become something of a mantra. Except for me, that is. I think we’re going to get utterly stuffed.

I’ve written thousands of words, some of which have almost made sense, about a game I honestly believe my team is going to lose. This is what it must feel to be the poor sod who wrote the Liberal Democrats’ manifesto.

Read more: Six of the best Auld Enemy matches: Scotland 1 England 0 (1964)

But in the name of all things Baxter, I hope I’m wrong. I hope Broony and the rest realise they are seen as second-class citizens and use that to inspire them to pull off what would be one of the greatest wins in our history.

Gordon Strachan’s men have to play with passion, pride and show all the doubters that their World Cup dream is still alive. It’s time to prove that Scotland are no longer an after-thought.

And for all their decentness, it would be nice to send the English lads homeward for a good old think and with a different perspective on Scottish football. Get into them, and all that.