Scotland would do well to forget world rankings and give Wednesday�s hosts the utmost respect as the temperature is the only thing that will be cooler, writes Michael Grant

SCOTLAND's second World Cup qualifier is going to expose them to the reality of sudden climate change. From playing in blazing sun and a temperature touching 37˚C in Macedonia they will sweep across the weather spectrum to face the chill of Iceland. The forecast for Reykjavik on Wednesday is just 11˚C and rain. Compared to the oven of Skopjke yesterday it will feel like home.

The opening double-header in Group Nine involves weather extremes which are slightly disorientating but Reykjavik will be far closer to the cold, grey skies and drizzle with which every Scot is sadly familiar.

Iceland have never been an insurmountable obstacle for Scotland - four ties in the 1986 World Cup and Euro 2004 qualifiers have yielded four victories - and the 100% record ought to be maintained. It is reassuring to remember that Scotland even managed to win in Iceland under the erratic guidance of Berti Vogts.

That 2-0 success in October, 2002, was only Vogts's second competitive match in charge after the horror of drawing 2-2 in the Faroe Islands the previous month. The Iceland game was memorable for a Scotland goal of the highest quality. James McFadden eventually eclipsed it with that unforgettable strike in the Stade de France a year ago, but until then it was Gary Naysmith who had a strong claim to have scored the finest Scotland goal of the decade. It came in the Laugardalsvollur Stadium, the Reykjavik ground Scotland return to on Wednesday.

Six years ago Iceland were better than they are now and Scotland worse. It looked ominous in 2002 yet Vogts's team won comfortably. Naysmith crossed to create a seventh minute opener for Christian Dailly and then the left-back completed a flowing move in the 62nd minute to score the second.

Maurice Ross delivered a chest-high cross into the centre and Naysmith controlled it brilliantly before lashing a shot past the Icelandic goalkeeper. Unusually, it was with his right foot. "I don't score many and that was definitely the best I've scored with my right," he recalled. Having reached his 42nd cap in Macedonia yesterday it remains the 29-year-old's only international goal.

"It will be good to go back. I've got good memories of Iceland. I didn't play against the Faroes but there was a bit of pressure at the time and we more or less had to go to Iceland and win. It was a good feeling to know that we were able to handle it and get the result we deserved. Hopefully it will be the same again this time."

Naysmith is one of only two men who played six years ago and will return on active service this week, the other being Steven Pressley. When David Weir took offence at Vogts's public criticism for what happened in the Faroes he made himself unavailable for selection and his place in the team went to Pressley.

Now Pressley is number three in George Burley's management team and continuing his ongoing crash course in how to act, think and talk like a coach rather than a player. "What with flying immediately after the Macedonia game it is extremely important that the players refuel correctly and get the appropriate vitamins in their bodies as soon as possible," he said. "We will have to be ready, come Monday, to prepare again for the Wednesday game. We have to move on from one game straight into the next, so we have to have a good knowledge of how Iceland play and their strengths and weaknesses."

Playing two vital qualifying matches in quick succession has not always agreed with Scotland. Prior to yesterday's match they had played ten double-headers since November 2003 and done far better in the first games than in the second. That can be partially explained by the fact all ten of the first games were at home and all ten of the second ones away, and occasionally the quality of opposition was better for the latter fixture.

Nevertheless there is a sense that Scotland instinctively regard internationals as matches which come along one at a time, every month or two, and that they have not mastered the double-header art of psychologically giving the second match equal importance to the first.

In this double-header, at least there is encouragement to be had from the recent competitive record away to Nordic opposition. Since winning their last visit to Iceland, Scotland have beaten Norway 2-1 in 2005 and the Faroes 2-0 in Toftir last year.

The latest Fifa world rankings released last week have Holland at four, Scotland 16, Norway 34, Macedonia 56 and Iceland down at 107, which is lower than Benin, Sudan and New Caledonia. Iceland manager Olafur Johannesson combines his role with being a full-time carpenter and they won only one of their six home ties in the qualifiers for Euro 2008. Against Liechtenstein they drew 1-1 at home and lost 3-0 away, which was pitiful.

Yet in other respects they do not fill the role of hapless makeweights. Barcelona's Eidur Gudjohnsen continues to play for them and so does Portsmouth's English Premier League veteran Hermann Hreidarsson. In September last year the eventual European champions, Spain, drew a qualifier 1-1 in Reykjavik. Their one home win came against Northern Ireland, which was more than Scotland could manage at Hampden last month.

"I wouldn't say they were the weakest team in the group," said Pressley, although the evidence points to that being the case. "I think they'll be a strong, physical side and they obviously have players playing at a good level. I know its an old cliche, but I think the truth of the matter is that these days, apart from a number of very low-ranked sides, the vast majority are very tricky opposition. That's not to say that I don't think we should win the game. I think it's up to ourselves and if we play to our levels I am confident we will win."

Lee Wilkie, Maurice Ross, Stevie Crawford and Steven Thompson were all in the Scotland team which started in Iceland six years ago and Pressley recalled being perceived as some sort of cavalry figure when he was brought back from international exile for that match in the aftermath of the draw against the Faroes.

"I think because of the result and performance in the Faroes, and the criticism the team had received, I had sort of been hailed as the saviour for some strange reason. People were expecting me to make a major impact and thankfully, as things do, it worked out extremely well and on the back of that I became a regular in the national side."

Over the next four years Pressley went on to reach 32 caps. His final appearance was in Ukraine two years ago, by which time Vogts had been replaced by Walter Smith and the rebuilding of the national team was underway. Even allowing for several call-offs, the quality and experience of the squad which flies to Iceland on Tuesday is far superior to the one which travelled in 2002.

"I look at this squad and think we have got a group of players who genuinely believe they should be playing at the top level," said Pressley. "I think that's been a big change in recent years. We have Darren Fletcher playing at Manchester United, a number of younger Old Firm players emerging and players down in England in the Premiership and Championship. They all genuinely believe that they are good enough to be playing top level football. There's no inferiority complex with these players and the mind is such an important aspect of modern-day football. There is a belief that we can go to these places and win games.

"I think that's been one of the biggest changes in the squad, now there are a lot of younger players who play with no fear. International football is a high pressure game but we have players who have to handle that type of pressure at big clubs every week."

Wednesday will show whether they can handle the heat of chilly Iceland.