IF Gordon Strachan does stand down and hand the responsibility of steering Scotland to the World Cup in Russia in 2018 to another man, then he certainly bowed out on a positive note.

Strachan’s stated objective of taking his country to the Euro 2016 finals in France next summer may not, after such an encouraging start, have been achieved.

The 2-2 draw with Poland at Hampden on Thursday night ended the national team’s hopes of progressing and rendered this final Group D fixture against Gibraltar meaningless.

However, that didn’t stop his players from treating the fixture against the smallest member of UEFA – they have a population of just 30,000 – seriously and scoring six goals.

A second half Steven Fletcher hat-trick, the Sunderland player’s second against Gibraltar in eight months, was the highlight of an emphatic closing triumph.

The display raised the spirits of the thousands of Tartan Army footsoldiers who travelled to Portugal and turned their tenth and final qualifier into an occasion akin to a home game.

Scotland fans need no excuse to don their Tam O’Shanters and jet off to some foreign clime to sink a few beers and cheer on their heroes.

So this match in Portugal was always going to be well attended by travelling supporters regardless of what, if anything, was at stake.

Yet, they clearly wanted to acknowledge the significant progress made by a side during the course of what was ultimately an unsuccessful campaign and thank the players for their efforts.

Their feelings about their manager, who is set to make a decision about his future in the coming days, and their desire for him to accept a new contract and continue were also obvious

In the first minute of the game, and sporadically throughout the match after that, they belted out a rendition of “there’s only one Gordon Strachan”.

Strachan was without five of the players he named in his initial squad for this double header. Leigh Griffiths (calf), James Morrison (ankle), Charlie Mulgrew (thigh) and Jordan Rhodes (medial ligament) were all absent due to injury. Meanwhile, James McArthur had returned home because his wife was due to give birth.

As expected, he made extensive changes to the line-up which had kicked off the game against Poland four days previously. No fewer than seven players – David Marshall, Russell Martin, Grant Hanley, Steven Whittaker, Darren Fletcher, Steven Naismith and James Forrest – dropped out.

In came Allan McGregor in goals, Christophe Berra and Gordon Greer in the centre of defence, Andrew Robertson at left back, Graham Dorrans and Shaun Maloney in midfield and Chris Martin up front. The only players to retain their places were Scott Brown, Alan Hutton, Matt Ritchie and Steven Fletcher.

It was an attempt to repay players who had turned up dutifully for squads during the preceding 14 months without getting any game time or having limited involvement. It wasn’t quite England at Wembley, but it was, all the same, an appearance for their country.

McGregor and Dorrans had not started a competitive international for their country in two years and Berra had not featured in three. It was the first time Martin had been involved in a qualification match from the first whistle. They were all grateful to be involved despite the opposition and the distinct lack of edge to proceedings.

Strachan decided he could just about risk abandoning the 4-2-3-1 formation he normally puts his faith in and went with a 4-4-2 line-up with Fletcher and Martin in attack. It took, though, a disturbingly long time for his charges to break the deadlock and score.

When Gibraltar managed to get themselves into the Scotland box after 15 minutes had elapsed it brought back memories of their previous encounter in Glasgow in March.

On that occasion Lee Casciaro had netted a first-half equaliser – his side’s first ever international goal – and silenced Hampden. There was, though, no joy in front of goal for the minnows on this occasion.

After Steven Fletcher and Shaun Maloney had both forced saves from Gibraltar keeper Jamie Robba, the visitors took the lead at a corner in the 24th minute.

Maloney curled the ball in, Gordon Greer flicked it on with his head and it arched over Robba before Martin nodded it into the net.

Like all good strikers, the Derby County man claimed it. Given that it was the first time he had scored in seven international appearances it was understandable. But it did look suspiciously like it had crossed the line.

Maloney bagged his fifth goal of the campaign six minutes before half-time. A Graham Dorrans shot was deflected to his feet and he displayed great composure and technique to curl the ball into the top right corner.

Fletcher, who had ended a 46 year wait for Scotland hat-trick in the previous encounter between these teams, scored twice in four minutes early in the second half to raise hopes among his side’s followers that he could pull off the feat once again. He duly obliged with a screamer in the 85th minute.

Strachan removed Brown, Martin and Ritchie, who had showed again why he is so highly regarded with an impressive showing and some penetrating deliveries into the opposition area from wide on the right flank, and brought on Darren Fletcher, Johnny Russell and Steven Naismith respectively. The latter rounded off the rout in injury-time.

The bittersweet 5-0 victory meant that Scotland won four, drew three and lost three of their Euro 2016 qualifying matches. It was not enough to secure even third place in Group D and one of eight play-off places. They finished three points adrift of a Republic of Ireland side they beat at home and drew with away.

When the news that Albania had joined the likes of Iceland and Northern Ireland in the European Championship finals filtered through in the build-up to kick-off it exacerbated the pain of an already disappointing failure.

It was not to be on this occasion. But the enthusiasm to end an absence from the finals of a major tournament that stretches back 17 years was clear among the crowd and the squad.