LIKE all good Scotsmen, Charlie Mulgrew came over all nostalgic as the bells approached last Hogmanay.

Maybe it was because at the time the Celtic player was nursing an injury, and perhaps a stiff drink as well, that on his Twitter account he posted a favourite picture of 2014, perhaps to cheer himself up.

It was of himself and his international team-mates at Celtic Park posing before they went on to become beat the Republic of Ireland in November, a night when Mulgrew produced his best performance for Scotland and maybe even of his entire career.

A tendon injury picked up soon afterwards meant that until Friday night's friendly against Qatar, the 29-year-old managed only six more games of the season. Just when he thought he would play again, a setback confined him to more time spent on the touchline.

But that was not going to stop this most determined of footballers for whom playing for their country is something to be truly cherished. Mulgrew, even when he couldn't run a few months ago, always had Saturday's return match with the Irish in his sights.

And he told Gordon Strachan as much when they bumped into each other quite randomly when the player was still injured.

"I met him in the dentist," revealed Mulgrew. "I was desperate to get back and each time I got a setback was really disappointing, however, I always remained positive when I spoke to the manager. I have always wanted to play with Scotland and everybody in our dressing room is the same.

There aren't many call-offs in the middle of June as there was in the past, which shows the enthusiasm that everybody wants to be involved.

"I am ready, as everybody is. The manager gets the best out of everybody and that is good because there is a lot of competition. You know there are people fighting for your position, wanting to play a part in the big matches and that brings the best out in you.

"To be fair I thought I would have been back a lot earlier. The tendon is a slow one and as I got closer I realised this game was probably going to be close to the time I would get back. I was desperate to get back involved at the end of the season with Celtic and I managed to make a couple of appearances and that set me up well for Scotland."

Mulgrew is easy to like. He is clearly a decent sort who has worked hard to become a key player for both club and country. Nothing was handed to him. He was prepared to graft and has turned into a fine footballer who can play a number of positions.

There have been some suggestions Strachan will play one his favourites at centre-half but it was in central midfield where the former Aberdeen and Dundee United man had such an influence when Ireland came to Glasgow seven months ago.

"I would definitely agree it was my best performance in a Scotland jersey," he said. "I enjoyed it because we played well and got a huge result. I played well but so did the entire team so it was a great night for us all.

"We really came out but it counts for nothing this weekend because we will need to be up for this match again. It is another game. We are away from home, the Irish might have one or two players back and it is another game and we just have to look to try and get a result somehow."

For a man who moved him out of Celtic ten years ago, Strachan now has all the time in the world for Mulgrew, who he continues to name-drop while the player was unavailable.

"It gives you confidence that the manager is behind you but I think he knew on Friday that I needed a game, "said Mulgrew. "It is my first 90 minutes in a while. I am thankful to him for it and now we have to move on to Ireland."

Win and Scotland are all-but guaranteed a play-off place at least, something this observer pointed out to Mulgrew only to quickly add that I hoped I hadn't jinxed anything.

The man himself had offered up a hard stare. It's almost as if nobody in the camp is even allowing themselves think about the finals in France this summer, let alone actually speak about the distinct possibility. Guess it's the hope that kills us all.

"Getting to the finals would be massive, just huge," said Mulgrew. "That is our big aim but we can't get too ahead of ourselves. "We have a massive game in Dublin and we are only halfway in the group and there are still a lot of games to be played.

"I saw Ireland when they played Poland at home and in the second half the fans really got behind them. It did help them and the players responded to that. It is really going to be a tough game, probably one of the toughest in the group.

"They are not out of it if they lose. There is still a lot of football to be played and a lot of big games. We still have Germany and Poland to play and those games can all have an effect. You have seen in this group that anybody can beat anybody. You can't rule anybody out."

And with Mulgrew back and fit, Scotland can't be ruled out of achieving anything.