Scott McTominay believes that the current Scotland team can be one of the most successful in the nation’s history by shattering the glass ceiling of qualification to the knockout stages of a major tournament this summer.

The Manchester United midfielder’s faith in Steve Clarke’s team has not been shaken by the recent run of friendly defeats to higher-ranked countries, and he fully expects that Scotland have what it takes to come through their group in the European Championships in Germany.

When it was put to him that it was almost accepted that Scotland teams of the past would exit major tournaments after three games, McTominay said: “That upsets me, hearing that. I don’t like hearing that.

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“You can’t go there and play average and come home like we did in 2021. There’s no way we want that. You have to have more ambition than that.

"You have to go there with a little bit of fire in your stomach and go, ‘listen, do you know what? Forget about the rest of it and forget about what anyone says, we are concentrating on us and that is final’.

“We want to go there and not get too carried away or say outlandish things, but we want to go there and do well and represent as an individual the best of your capabilities and as a team.

“There’s a big chance. Big chance. There is the potential to be one of the most successful Scottish teams in history and that should be at the front of every player’s mind.

“We have it. We know that. Don’t be surprised when the next big game comes along, and we take our chances. That is something we do need to get better at, but things could look very different.

“There will be a few teams that are surprised.”

McTominay was in sparkling goalscoring form for Scotland throughout their qualification campaign for the Euros, but he doesn’t want to rest on his past achievements, even those as historic as the win over Spain at Hampden in which his double gave the Scots a stunning 2-0 victory.

“Obviously it was an amazing night, but we want more of them,” he said.

“We can’t just settle for ‘oh I want another night in five years’ time to be spoken about in ten years’. I don’t just want that one. Because that means you have pretty much ran your race in terms of your favourite night for Scotland.

“No, I want more of them. It doesn’t bother me too much looking back on goals, it’s always about the next one and the next one.”

McTominay’s seven goals that helped carry Scotland to Germany though did win him the William Hill Scottish Football Writers’ Association Men's International Player of the Year Award, an honour he was proud to accept for the first time, though in typically modest fashion.

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“I look back and look at the players Scotland have had and winning this award gives me the most pride because of the amazing players we’ve had and following in their footsteps,” he said.

“I never look at myself as a hero or anything like that. I just want to do my absolute best for Scotland and for my grandparents, my mum and my dad and everyone.

“When I look back on my career and really reflect it will make me very proud. But at the minute I just want to keep doing what I’m doing and not get too carried away with all the other things.

“People say ‘you’re a hero.’ No I’m not, I’m just a normal boy who is living his dream by playing football.”