AS first experiences of Norway go, Christophe Berra's was more pickled herring than fjords and midnight sun.

The Scotland central defender made the sixth appearance of his international career in Oslo in August 2009 but it hardly occurred in the manner he can have hoped for.

Not only did George Burley's side crash to a humiliating 4-0 World Cup qualifying defeat on the day, Berra's personal contribution consisted of entering the fray after 37 minutes in a tactical switch facilitated by the dismissal of Gary Caldwell, and trudging off again after 78 minutes having sustained a hamstring injury which would see him miss the start of Wolves' Premier League campaign.

The player is enjoying life again these days at Ipswich Town, but given such previous misfortunes in this corner of Scandinavia it is a wonder he is catching the plane to Molde for this Tuesday's international friendly at all.

"It wasn't a good memory," Berra recalled. "I've grown from that, though. It was the start of a long journey and it made me stronger. I look back now and laugh about it but at the time I wasn't laughing."

Should he make it on to the field, Berra has been reminded that he would become the first Ipswich player to feature for Scotland since a certain John Wark some 30 years previously. In addition to everything else he achieved in the game, Wark, of course, had a role in Escape to Victory and that would also seem a suitable enough subtitle for Berra as he seeks to reinvent himself following a traumatic end to what was generally a happy spell in Wolverhampton.

The 29-year-old formed an excellent working relationship with Mick McCarthy at Wolves - the same man who took him to Ipswich - and things were going swimmingly even under the Midlands side's Norwegian coach Stale Solbakken. But no sooner had his replacement Dean Saunders arrived than Berra was suddenly persona non grata on match days.

"In the reception at Portman Road there's a big board with all Ipswich Town's internationals and it's surprising how many top players are there," said Berra. "Guys like Terry Butcher and so on. I usually see him [Wark] once a week at the training ground, he's a great guy. He does hospitality on matchdays. Hopefully I can get some minutes under my belt for Scotland and he can be pestering me when I go back."

Had things gone differently, Berra could have been playing his football in another team clad in royal blue. Rangers boss Ally McCoist made no secret of his pursuit of the player this summer, but the 29-year-old felt his career would be better served in the Championship than SPFL League One.

"Their manager [McCoist] phoned me a couple of times," admitted Berra. "I listened to what he said and we had a good chat but at this moment in my career I wanted to stay in England. I respect Rangers, they are a massive club - and I know Lee Wallace is here with Scotland too. But for my international career, I wanted to stay in England and try to get back to the Premier League.

"Getting it all sorted was a relief," he added. "From playing practically the whole season, then suddenly not even being on the bench for the last 16 games was strange, but that's football, I'm not the only person it has happened to. I don't have hard feelings. They [Wolves] did a lot for me. There were three enjoyable years in the Premier League and half a season when we won the Championship. Even when it happened I was still there, I supported the team, travelled and did the running after the game. You've just got to stick your head down and not end on bad terms. I've worked with McCarthy before and the one thing he is is very honest and as a footballer you appreciate that. He tells you, straight down the middle, what he thinks."

The same undoubtedly applies, for better or for worse, to Gordon Strachan. And we should have a clearer idea of the Scotland manager's precise opinion about the former Hearts star after this coming week. Berra started in his first match in charge against Estonia, then the double header against Wales and Serbia, only for his international place to fall victim to his turmoil at club level.

A mainstay of the Craig Levein regime, with a couple of Scotland goals on his resume, much has changed at international level since he was last there. In particular Grant Hanley and Russell Martin appear to have made the two central defensive roles their own.

"I was involved in his first couple of squads when we got beat by Wales and Serbia," said Berra. "Since then it's progressed and I've not been a part of it. They [Hanley and Martin] have done really well. The whole team has done well. All I can do is play well for Ipswich, come here and train well, but prior to me not playing for Wolves and getting left out I had played about 17-18 games on the trot and personally I thought I was consistent in that."

It is doubtful whether Berra requires any extra incentive to win back his regular place in the Scotland squad, but the chance to help take the country to France, the nation of his father's birth, for Euro 2016 would be something special. Berra Snr hails from the town of Besancon near the Swiss border.

"My dad moved to Scotland in his early 20's to be a waiter and to learn the language," said Berra. "He met my mum and the rest is history. He's never looked back. He's still got family and friends over there. I went over when I was younger but I've not been for years. He's more or less Scottish now but he's still got his accent."

For Berra, the accent is simply on making up for lost time. And the land of the midnight sun and pickled herring would be as good a place to start as any.