THERE is still, nearly a century and a half after it was first played at Hamilton Crescent in Glasgow, no other fixture in international football which stirs the emotions of a Scotland supporter quite like one against England.

Victories over our age-old adversaries are celebrated for, well, forever, and the players involved in recording them, especially those who score, lauded for the remainder of their days and beyond.

The independence referendum last year, an event which whipped up previously unseen levels of nationalistic fervour among so many among our population, has heightened already strong feelings about an historic sporting rivalry.

So, it was no surprise when, despite meeting the “Auld Enemy” twice in the last two years in “friendly” matches, members of the Tartan Army were sent into delirium by the Russia 2018 draw on Saturday evening.

Any chance of a sober analysis of our prospects of progressing from a section which also, in case it has been forgotten, includes Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania and Malta, ended when the make-up of Group F was completed in St. Petersburg.

A serious dissection of the opponents who stand between Scotland and a place in their first World Cup finals since France ’98 was instantly replaced by an unfortunate, but entirely inevitable, “remember Bannockburn 1314!” rhetoric.

For many among the Tennent’s-sloshing, Tam O’Shanter-wearing, Doh-A-Deer-singing hordes, beating Roy Hodgson’s side will be welcomed just as much, if not more so, than Gordon Strachan’s team actually qualifying.

But let’s, if it’s at all possible amid all of the jingoism and hullabaloo, pause for a while and ask a pertinent question. What chance do we actually have of defeating the top seeds, winning our group and joining the best countries in the world in Russia in three years’ time? The answer, alas, has to be: “Not much at all.”

Scotland have certainly made huge progress in the two and a half years since Strachan succeeded Craig Levein. The manager has brought the very best out of the group of players available to him and restored pride in the national team among the public.

With four games remaining in our qualifying bid for Euro 2016, we are, after winning three, drawing two and losing just one of our six outings in Group D so far, in a strong position to reach our first finals in 18 years.

The top two sides in all nine qualifying groups go through to France automatically along with the highest-ranked third-placed team. The remaining eight third-placed nations will then play-off for the final four berths. In total, 23 out of the 53 sides involved will make it.

Getting to Russia 2018 will be far more demanding. The nine group winners will advance while the eight best-placed runners-up will go head-to-head for four remaining berths. Just 13 of the 52 combatants will achieve their objective. Our hopes of being one of them are, despite the strides forward taken with Strachan in charge, slender.

There was much excitement at our performance against England at Wembley two years ago, when we took the lead twice courtesy of goals from first James Morrison and then, in his last international appearance, Kenny Miller. But the final 3-2 scoreline failed to reflect how dominant our hosts were for lengthy spells.

Last year at Celtic Park Scotland were taught a football lesson by England. A glancing header by Alex Oxlaide-Chamberlain in the first half and a double by Wayne Rooney in the second gave our dear near neighbours a comfortable 3-1 win. It resembled a game between Premier League and Championship players.

The fact Scotland had been involved in an intense and energy-sapping Euro 2016 qualifier against the Republic of Ireland four days before and were missing their first choice striker Steven Fletcher was used by some to excuse and explain one of the few poor performances of Strachan’s tenure. That flimsy argument, though, overlooked that England, too, had played Slovenia in a competitive match in London three days earlier and were away from home.

Many in this country revel in England’s inability to satisfy the ridiculous expectations of their supporters when they play in tournament finals. But when it comes to actually getting there they are nobody’s fools. They have reached seven of the last eight World Cups and six of the last seven European Championships. They have won all six of their Euro 2016 qualifiers to date and are virtual certainties to go through.

It is often said that, on their day, Scotland can compete with any side on the planet. We have certainly overachieved enough against vastly superior football nations over the years. Indeed, we defeated Croatia, placed high above us in the FIFA rankings, home and away in our last World Cup qualifying campaign. We gave Germany, the freshly-crowned world champions, a serious fright away from home in our current campaign.

Yet, the gulf in quality between Scotland and England is now vast. It is highly unlikely we will trouble them greatly. Sure, it will be fun watching, will generate huge interest in our national team and will be beneficial for the game here. But we should temper our excitement with realism. Performing to the best of our abilities, giving a good account of ourselves and finishing runners-up is as much as we can reasonably expect.