Scotland were hapless when they last met the United States.

Craig Levein was the manager, and the friendly match at the end of May last year was confirmation that two teams with different priorities do not tend to be evenly-matched. On a hot night in Jacksonville, Levein was faced with the stark limitations of his squad. Scotland were bereft when robbed of their competitive, hard edge, and lost 5-1.

Reflecting on the game recently, Juergen Klinsmann, the USA head coach, spoke of the Scotland players wanting "to have a good time and go on vacation". He added that Levein "kind of apologised", afterwards and the sense was that a team-building exercise was interrupted by the obligation to play a friendly match. Scotland were two goals down inside 12 minutes and the occasion was relentlessly unforgiving.

There was little permanent damage done, since the failure of Levein's reign was tied into other, more significant setbacks. Many of the players involved continue to be called up. Lee Wallace came off the bench for the final 22 minutes, so contributed in a small way to the defeat since the scoreline was only 4-1 in the USA's favour at that point. Current circumstances that have limited Wallace's involvement, since playing in SPFL 1 for Rangers means that the defender is not facing the same level of opponent each week as his rivals for a place in the squad.

Strachan likes the player, though, and continues to call him up, since Wallace's attitude and ability are not affected by the domestic standard he is performing at. The left-back will hope to use Friday's friendly against the US at Hampden as a chance to prove to Strachan that his faith is warranted. The backline has been settled in recent fixtures, but that has involved Steven Whittaker playing out of position at left-back, or Charlie Mulgrew moving there from midfield. Against the US and then away to Norway in seven days, Wallace intends to show his worth, but also try to undo some of the damage to Scotland's reputation from the last meeting.

"I'm glad to be back involved and to keep my place," Wallace said. "They are two big friendlies and we are looking to make amends for last year's game. They were a top side and I would imagine they will be the same again. It will be up to us to continue the good form the team have been in, because the manager has made great progress and great strides and it's really refreshing to see the direction we've being going in. So we are just looking to continue that for the next two games."

The conditions at Hampden will at least be more familiar to the Scottish players. During the training camp in America, the temperature was high and the effect, after a long domestic season, was to drain the players of the last of their competitive spirit. That showed in the performance and the result against Kilnsmann's side. "[The heat] was probably a factor when we were training, but not so much on the night," Wallace said of the 5-1 defeat. "Come the match day it was just a case of them being too good. They were top class. Perhaps the weather was an issue with the week's training but not on the night.

"It was at the end of the season but it certainly wasn't a holiday. You are representing your country and you are looking to be as professional as you can. It was probably said because it fell in that period of the year and the outcome of the match, and they were just superior on the night. We'll be looking to make up for it on Friday."

The US expect a more challenging encounter this time. While the Scots are looking to build on the recent sense of momentum, the US are planning towards the World Cup finals in Brazil, with this game and next week's friendly with Austria two of the few more opportunities for the players to impress Kilnsmann before he selects his 23-man squad.

DaMarcus Beasley and Alejandro Bedoya, both previously of Rangers, have been included for the trip to Glasgow but Landon Donovan, the scorer of 57 international goals, has been omitted through injury. "We are excited about the group we have coming in and the big opportunity to finish the year on a high note," said Klinsmann. "We want to use these games to prove a point and see our players are continuing to improve as we build towards the World Cup."

They will find a more determined and applied Scotland side, too. "You'll see a big difference from us as a team," said Wallace. "You'll find that we'll be a bit more organised and we'll probably be looking to try and play a bit more and be a bit more expressive, that's how the manager likes to do things. He'll have training matched specifically to them and every player will know how to play and what's required. So what you will see is a better Scotland."