Watching closely but from afar

The 45-year-old Northern Ireland manager, from Portadown, County Armagh, resists the temptation to offer any predictions on the events which will unfold in the east end of Glasgow, perhaps because he could be said to have a foot in either camp. Much of the former winger's playing days were spent in Scotland - at the likes of Dundee United, Hibernian, Aberdeen, St Johnstone, Clydebank and Ayr United - but the transformative period of his coaching career arrived across the Irish Sea, at the Tallaght Stadium in Dublin, where he led Shamrock Rovers to two league titles, and guided them into the Europa League group stage.

"It is a game I would have liked to attend, to be honest," O'Neill told Herald Sport. "But I will be out in Romania. I am not going to commit to pick a winner, that is for sure - it is very difficult to choose between the two teams. The Republic have got off to a great start, winning in Georgia and nicking a point in Germany. As for Scotland, it is very difficult when you start with Germany on the opening night but they were very unfortunate not to take something, and their results since then have been good.

"They won the home game [against Georgia], then took a point in Poland, so I think Scotland can approach the game in a confident manner. It will be tough for the Republic."

­Neutrality also prevails when it comes to the respective managers. Martin O'Neill may be his countryman and namesake, but he also worked under a young Gordon Strachan during a brief spell at Coventry City during the mid-90s. "I see them at events, and I guess I see Gordon at games more than I would see Martin," said O'Neill.

"Both of them are a lot more experienced than I am but they are two very good guys who will always give you their time if you need it."

Football can turn in an instant but for now all of the teams from the British Isles have cause to regard themselves as beneficiaries of the idea - the brainchild of the late former SFA chief executive David Taylor - to expand the European Championship finals to 24 teams. While the Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales appear re-energised by the enhanced odds of qualification, nowhere has that vitality been more marked than in Northern Ireland.

In the standard of group which all Scotland fans must be eyeing enviously, Northern Ireland have started like thoroughbreds. Three wins have been gleaned from their first three games - including fine away efforts against Hungary and top seeds Greece - to leave their supporters dreaming of their first qualification for a major finals since Mexico 1986. Take anything against second-placed Romania and those dreams may start to coalesce into reality.

"It has been a great start, beyond our wildest dreams," admitted O'Neill, the first Catholic manager of Northern Ireland for half a century. "We have given ourselves a platform to hopefully have a real go in the second half of the campaign and that is what we intend to do.

"It is a very difficult game against Romania, but if we can get anything there we will be in a very strong position. Even if we don't get anything, we are still in a good position. In the second half of the campaign, we have four of the last six games at home, so it is all there for us.

"You never start dreaming until you are there I think. The nature of this game has taught me that. But I am pleased for the players. Because our performances in the World Cup qualifying matches were better than the results. They didn't get what they deserved in a number of games, but we are starting to get that now. Slowly but surely we are moulding a team but obviously the [qualifying] situation gives us more hope.

"What Scotland are doing and what we are doing is very, very similar. The three countries have made good starts, as have Wales, so it is healthy at the minute, but it is still really fragile."

The core of O'Neill's squad are hardly unknown to a Scottish audience. Falkirk's Michael McGovern and St Johnstone's Alan Mannus serve as back-ups to former Manchester United goalkeeper Roy Carroll, Paul Paton, Josh Magennis, Sammy Clingan, Niall McGinn and Billy McKay all currently play their football in the Scottish top flight, while Paddy McCourt, Andy Little, Steven Davis and Kyle Lafferty all have done at some point in the not too distant past.

While O'Neill heaps praise on his captain Davis, Lafferty has scored in all three matches to date. "Davis is captain and he has been phenomenal for me," said O'Neill. "He is a real top player and in my opinion he has kicked on a level since he was at Rangers. Big Laff has come back to the UK from Russia obviously and he scores goals in big games."

Rather than play the match behind closed doors due to crowd trouble at a recent Romania-Hungary match, Uefa have permitted Northern Irieland fans to travel to Bucharest. And the sense of something building in their game was only confirmed recently by an impressive 2-1 win against Scotland in the opening round of the Victory Shield, the event contested annually between the home nations at under-16 level.

O'Neill took in the match, alongside Irish FA performance director Jim Magilton and coach Stephen Robinson and his assistant David Healy. "The Scottish lads are all affiliated to clubs, our lads aren't," said O'Neill. "There are still a lot of things we would like to see but our younger players are making their mark."