It sounded like a very Scottish way of doing things.

"My Auntie Maggie has a house in Majorca near where Alex McLeish has one, so they have parties together and that's where my chance to play for Scotland came up," recalled the English-born James Morrison on the opportunity to switch allegiance to the land of his grandparents during McLeish's time as the national team manager in 2007.

You can just about picture the scene; the aforementioned Auntie Maggie reeling on to the sun-soaked patio to convince Big Eck that her nephew was ready to produce, well, some Tartan Special.

"I was 20 at the time and Alex got in touch to ask if I wanted to play for Scotland," added the West Bromwich Albion player, who had represented England at a host of levels during his youth but has since confirmed and cemented his Caledonian connection.

"My family was a big part of me playing for Scotland. I talked to them and we thought I should go for it because I was close to the Scottish side of the family. My dad wanted me to do it and I used to speak to my grandad about it. He used to tell me I'd play for Scotland one day.

"If the chance had come to play for Scotland when I was younger I might have done it, but it never came."

With a foot in both camps, Morrison hummed and hawed. It wasn't a case of sitting on the fence; it was more like sitting on Hadrian's Wall with a leg on either side.

"The decision took a few weeks to come to," said the 28-year-old from Darlington. "I spoke to Alex McLeish about it and eventually called him back three weeks later. I made my decision and stuck with it, I have no regrets at all."

In the build-up to last Friday's European Championship qualifier with the Republic of Ireland, this 'friendly' with the old foe from across the border has almost been brushed under the carpet.

"It's certainly been a low-key build-up to the England game and none of the lads even talked about it before Friday night's match because we were so focused on that," noted Morrison, who is in the frame to play having recovered from the sickness bug that ruled him out of the Parkhead clash.

Come Tuesday night, though, the players, the backroom team and the fans will be up for it. "The England game takes on such an importance on its own," admitted Mark McGhee, the Scotland assistant manager.

"Irrespective of Friday night's result, we'll still have the mentality to take the England game as seriously as possible. It is too important a game."