RUSSELL Martin and Ikechi Anya have taken diverse and circuitous journeys to arrive at the same destination.

Both will likely be in the Scotland line-up to face the Republic of Ireland on Friday night, the latest high-profile encounter for a duo who began their careers together playing youth football for Wycombe Wanderers. Neither could have envisaged back then that they would go on to become Scotland internationalists, especially given their disparate backgrounds.

Anya was born and spent his early years in Glasgow before being raised in England by his Nigerian father and Romanian mother. Martin hails from Brighton and qualifies to play for Gordon Strachan's side through his Scottish father. Both have arrived at international football relatively late in their careers but have demonstrated a hunger and desire to make the most of the opportunity. Martin, the elder of the pair at 28, has followed Anya's career with interest and intrigue after the pair parted ways seven years ago when the latter was let go by Wycombe. Anya's subsequent career path has been as meandering as one of his darts up the wing, his cv containing more stops than the trainline from John O'Groats to Land's End.

Still just 26, he has crammed more into his life than many people double his age. Martin's career has been less glamorous, joining Peterborough United after leaving Wycombe before moving to Norwich in 2010 where he has remained ever since.

He concedes that both men can be quietly proud at having come this far. "Sometimes you have to take stock and think, 'Well, I have come quite a long way,'" he added. "To do that while not standing still is important. The moment you stand still then there'll be someone ready to take your place. But I'm well aware of well we've both done and how far we've come. I'm extremely proud of that and glad that I've done it that way. It's been a great journey."

There is a detectable sense of pride in the way that Martin speaks about Anya's career and the route he has taken to become the Tartan Army's latest cult hero. "It's been great to see the journey he's been on, to see how far he's come," he added. "He always had ability and a lot of potential. Unfortunately it didn't quite come through earlier.

"He's had to do it the hard way and he's had a long, old journey. But he's been brilliant. He offers something different that not a lot of players have. He has electrifying pace while he's also now added a real end product to his game. I'm really pleased for him with this success, having known him for so long."

Both Martin and Anya will probably need to be key performers if Scotland are to continue their quest to reach Euro 2016 by beating the Irish on Friday night.

Martin did not want to label it a pivotal point in the qualifying campaign - a defeat won't end either side's chances of reaching France - but there is an undoubted buzz surrounding the fixture not experienced by Scotland fans for many a year.

"Up until now I think this will be the biggest game of the group and the result will be important in terms of how it might shape up. But it will still only be four games in - and that means it won't be the be-all and end-all, whatever happens."