Keith Treacy insists the Republic of Ireland will need to silence the Tartan Army if they are to inflict another defeat on Scotland.
Hampden is set to be packed out for this evening’s clash as Scotland look to move one step closer to sealing top spot in UEFA Nations League Group B1.
The Irish will be wary of a backlash after humbling Steve Clarke’s side 3-0 in Dublin in June, while Scotland are also on a high after beating Ukraine by the same scoreline on Wednesday night.
Former Ireland, Blackburn and Burnley midfielder Treacy admits how Stephen Kenny’s side deal with the crowd in Glasgow could have a big bearing on the result.
He said: “It essentially will be a derby game, going to Hampden it’s going to be intense.
“The first 20 minutes will be big when you go away to these types of places.
“Every pass must be 100 per cent because you don’t want to give Scotland any impetus.
“You want to keep the crowd at bay at Hampden, Ukraine tried to do it for long periods, they tried to keep the ball and get the crowd disinterested but every now and then you would see John McGinn and Callum McGregor going after the ball, getting tackles in and they kept the crowd in the game.
“We’ll have to keep the ball really well to silence the crowd, we’ll have to match their intensity."
Despite having already beaten Scotland, Treacy insists the clash will offer another indication of where Ireland are on their journey under Kenny's stewardship.
He added: "It will be difficult, we have pulled it out of the fire before, we’ve drawn with a very good Belgian team although that wasn’t away from home.
"It’s another test to go away from home and see if we can impose our way of playing on Scotland.
“We can’t be sitting there letting them wave and wave of attack, we do need to keep the ball and take the sting out of it and the intensity of the first 20 minutes will need to be matched.”
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