SCOTLAND'S recently appointed captain Kyle Coetzer will puff out his chest with pride as he strides purposefully out at Mannofield in Aberdeen this afternoon.

Coetzer is back in his home town to lead his country for just the second time since he replaced Gordon Drummond at the helm a few weeks ago.

However, the occasion will become irrelevant to the 29-year-old batsman if the Scots fail to get the two wins they need against Kenya today and on Tuesday to stay on course for automatic qualification for the 2015 World Cup.

Coetzer, a product of the Stoneywood-Dyce youth system, seems perfectly placed to lead that quest from the front, the in-form batsman having been scoring runs at will in all forms of the game for Northants. Having entered the record books by making the highest-ever first-class score by a Scot – 219 against Leicestershire – he followed up with a brilliant unbeaten century in a YB40 match against Worcestershire during the week.

Nor is his recent form for Scotland to be overlooked, his last performance in the ICC World Cricket League yielding 133 against Afghanistan and hoisting his ODI average to an impressive 48.

However, that century came during two potentially damaging defeats to the Afghans and Coetzer knows nothing other than two victories will do against an improving Kenyan side who want one of the two automatic places on offer at the global tournament to be staged in Australia and New Zealand.

The Scotland captain said: "It will obviously be an enormously proud moment to lead the side out in Aberdeen. I've already had the honour against Pakistan in Edinburgh but doing it in my home town will undoubtedly be special.

"Having said that, these games aren't about me but about the team putting together the performances that can get us the wins we are after. We have four games left in the qualifying tournament and we want to win them all."

The Scots finish their campaign away to leaders and top-rated associate side Ireland later in the summer and Coetzer will accept no inferiority complex when it comes to facing the men from the Emerald Isle.

"We need to develop a greater belief to show that we can compete with the very best sides and dominate teams like Kenya," he stressed.

"A few years ago Ireland suddenly adopted that sort of attitude and I'm not saying we don't have it at all, but we need to develop it so that it becomes a winning culture.

"We have a great chance to show we mean business against Kenya. They are an improving side as they have shown by getting into a good position in the qualifying table.

"But we have to back ourselves and use the conditions to our advantage because there's no denying that playing in Aberdeen should work in our favour, especially if we can get in about them early on."

Coetzer, whose first-ever senior century came against the Kenyans in an Intercontinental Cup clash in Abu Dhabi in 2004, is characteristically modest about his own form.

"I'm feeling in reasonable touch," he said. "Scoring runs breeds confidence, as does the memory of playing Kenya and scoring that century in Abu Dhabi which helped the side to a big win.

"Performances like that stick in your mind and help develop the belief I was talking about. It was the same with my century against Afghanistan back in March because it was the first three-figure score I'd had for a while."

The Scotland captain, though, is possibly more at ease when trumpeting the achievements and ability of team-mates.

"When I look through the squad I see match-winners all the way through," he said. "There's Maj [Majid Haq] who is Scotland's leading ODI wicket-taker, Berro [Richie Berrington] who scored an amazing T20 ton against Bangladesh and Preston [Mommsen] who can turn any match.

"And that's before you look at the county guys like Iain Wardlaw who can bowl great yorkers and Matt Machan who has been scoring runs for Sussex - Getting to the World Cup is our dream and we have it in our own hands to make it become a reality."

Coetzer will return to Northants after Tuesday's game, meaning he will miss two T20 fixtures on Thursday and Friday and an I-Cup encounter, also against Kenya, which starts next Sunday.

"It's frustrating in a way not to be available for all Scotland games because I would like to influence things as much as possible.

"At the same time I am lucky to have a good career with Northants and juggling responsibilities is something all the county guys have to deal with.

"It's good that Preston is getting valuable experience of captaining the team when I'm not around."

Scotland: K Coetzer capt, R Berrington, G Drummond, M Haq, I Wardlaw, G Goudie, P Mommsen, C MacLeod, F Coleman, R Taylor, M Iqbal, N Carter, D Murphy, M Machan.

Kenya: C Obuya capt, A Obanda, T Mishra, R Patel, I Karim, D Allan, M Ouma, Nehemiah Odhiambo, Nelson Odhiambo, J Ngoche, H Varaiya, E Otieno, S Obado, R Aga.