Hanley on a high after surviving aerial battering from Irish

And while there were a few fraught moments along the way, it was to their credit that they toughed out their fourth home clean sheet in a row, a run stretching to September last year. Top of the list of crisis points was the dangerous late free-kick which Hanley could only head on to the top of his own crossbar. A nation held its breath, but no-one more so than the Blackburn Rovers defender himself.

"It was going to be me or one of their lads who got to it, so I just I had to make sure it was me," said the brawny Hanley. "I was a bit worried about where it was going, but thankfully it came off the bar. There was a similar one just before it that I got my head to and it went just wide. But when you work as hard as the lads did then you get that bit of luck.

"Russell said something after the game about having so many clean sheets in a row at home and it's great to get another against a team as direct as that. Looking back, it was probably a must-win game for us. It was as physically tough as any match I've experienced. It was a real man's game, but we stood up to it. It did feel like a Championship game, but the quality showed in the end with Shaun Maloney's goal."

For Marshall, this was his first happy return journey for "eight or nine years" to the venue where he spent the first five years of his career.

In addition to showering generous praise on his centre-halves, the Cardiff City shotstopper paid tribute to goal hero and room-mate Shaun Maloney, a player who suddenly appears to be in the prime of his footballing life, even if his club Wigan Athletic currently occupy one of the Championship relegation places. After one goal in his first 30 Scotland appearances, he now has three in his last six. "Shaun keeps coming up with the goods," Marshall said. "You trust him to produce when it matters and he did it again on Friday. I'm delighted for him because I know how hard he works.

"He is at his peak just now and I think he should still be playing in the Premier League. With Scotland the gaffer has a lot of trust in him and that's why you get performances like that."

Marshall added: "The celebrations were measured because we're only four games in, but deep down we knew it would be a big win if we could do it against the Irish. Hopefully we'll be stronger when we go to Dublin in June. We have Gibraltar before that which we'll be under pressure to win well. If we get the job done there, the pressure we felt on Friday will be transferred to the game against the Irish in Dublin."

The friendly meeting with England seemed like a detail on Friday night, but come Tuesday it will surely acquire a life of its own.

Marshall has a groin strain and may be rested, but says there is no mood in the squad to play down the importance of this fixture.

"There will be another full house at Celtic Park on Tuesday and as soon as it starts, it's not a friendly, is it?" Marshall said. "We'll want to beat the English just as much as we did the Irish."

Also back at his old stomping ground was Robbie Keane, although the Republic of Ireland talisman was only glimpsed late on as his side vainly chased the game. Keane made light of his omission from the starting line-up and said there was plenty of football in Group D still to be played.

"If the manager wants to play one up front, I'm not Niall Quinn and I'm not Shane Long - they are better at that than I am," Keane said. "The manager made a decision and I respect that. It wasn't the greatest game in the world. It was a bit sloppy, like an Old Firm derby where there are people just trying to kick each other. It probably wasn't that good for people to watch.

"When you go to Germany and get a point you expect to come here and certainly get something out of the game. But we didn't."