AROUND the Renfrewshire hotel rented by the Scottish Football Association during home international fixtures, the talk yesterday was of two players who have not made big impressions on the Scotland team.

Firstly, Wayne Rooney, who doubtless was surprised to come across headlines yesterday which recalled the time he was approached by Berti Vogts about playing for Scotland. Rooney was 17 and with Everton when Vogts turned up on the doorstep to say a Scottish grandmother meant he was eligible, if he fancied the idea. He did not, and a predictably pointless assignment came to a swift end.

The other player discussed around the camp yesterday cannot play for Scotland either, although he remains all-too relevant given the harm he could do to Gordon Strachan's team on Tuesday. Luka Modric has been playing for Croatia since 2006 and is on 69 caps at the age of 28, but the little wizard from Real Madrid was suspended when Scotland went to Zagreb in June. For those inclined to take an unforgiving view of Scotland's claim to be making progress, the subsequent 1-0 win was diminished a little because Croatia had to perform without their exceptional playmaker. It was as if an orchestra had been made to play without its conductor.

Modric did appear at Hampden in a 1-1 draw between the countries in 2008, although he is now a far more accomplished and developed player than he was five and a half years ago. Scotland accept that some churlish observers will place a metaphorical asterisk beside the result in Zagreb four months ago, on the grounds that the opposition was without its biggest wee star.

"It's like when Andy Murray's winning Wimbledon or whatever and some big player's not in it, you always think 'would he have won it if that guy had been playing?'" said Scotland assistant manager Mark McGhee. "We beat Croatia and Modric wasn't playing. Now I would like to see us beat Croatia with Modric in the team, and that would reaffirm what happened in Zagreb. The best thing for us is to play well and approach the game as we have recently, with the same level of performance and go and beat them regardless of whether Modric plays.

"They are significantly better with Modric in the team. Hugely. I would liken it to Barcelona coming to Parkhead without Lionel Messi. He's not one out of 11, he's not 9% of the team: he's 30% of the team. He's the DNA of the team. Modric is the one who makes them the special side that they are. Without Modric they are a good team, with Modric I think they are a special team.

"He's a player you find very difficult to get to, to affect what he does well. He's got a great touch, he's a great passer, he finds gaps, he opens people up, he makes the pass that people will score a goal from. He finds opportunities for people. The majority of the goals that Mario Mandzukic would score for them would be from a pass from Modric. So if you can stop him at source then you undermine their best chances."

Scotland seriously damaged Croatia's chance of reaching the 2014 World Cup finals with that result in Zagreb of course. It remains the only defeat suffered by the group's top two, Belgium and Croatia, in their combined 16 games so far. The outcome was so startling that the momentum from it still sustains Scotland 18 weeks later, a period in which they performed creditably against England and Belgium and won in Macedonia. "I think it is still early to say it was a turning point but it was a starting point for Gordon," said McGhee. "It gave us something tangible in terms of a result and a performance. We said at the time that the performance was as important as the result. It was fantastic to win but we wanted to see an improvement, a team with a shape and a purpose. We've now done that in each of the last four games, regardless of the result. At least the shape and the team has looked the same. The fans who come to Hampden on Tuesday should expect to see the same performance, because as coaches we do."

No-one was thinking about Ikechi Anya at the time of that Croatia game but he is another name getting plenty of mentions around Scotland at the moment. Having made his debut as a second-half substitute against the Belgians - his first impression was predictably submerged by the visitors' domination - he delivered an illuminating performance and a goal in the subsequent 2-1 win in Skopje. Many supporters will turn up at Hampden hoping for much more of his effervescent play.

"We couldn't have dreamt that he would have as good a debut as he did; he was fantastic," said McGhee. "There is now a great expectation on him. The punters at Hampden will be looking forward to seeing some sort of contribution from him. He does give us something different and exciting with his pace and his energy. He is an exciting player for us to have, he's a terrific lad around the place. He's been a find."

Rooney and Modric merely pass through the Scotland story. Anya has a chance to write himself further into it.