Craig Levein playing the waiting game

"The biggest thing at the moment is making sure that everybody is available. That's my biggest hurdle and I want to be sitting at (the team hotel] Mar Hall on Monday and seeing all the guys coming through the door that are on that squad list. Then there will be a sigh of relief and from there I can properly prepare for the game."

It's not that the preparations are not underway. The Scotland coach has watched the Lithuanians twice himself, his sidekicks have scouted them on a couple of other occasions and he has studied so many DVDs of Friday's first Euro 2012 opponents that he is probably enduring re-runs in his sleep.

But if the recent 3-0 friendly loss to Sweden taught him anything it's that not every eventuality can be planned for. Even with plans A through to Z, he would still be hard-pushed to finalise teams and tactics before knowing exactly what personnel he has at his disposal.

Battered by a raft of call-offs ahead of that friendly he was forced to made late additions to the squad. He chose to experiment, mixed a number of raw components and it blew up in his face. "When it comes to this match I can't afford to gamble or just have a look at anybody. I have to play the best players available. I need guys who are experienced at international level. I can't afford to experiment at all. Of the guys who turn up at Mar Hall, the best 11 have to start, obviously depending on the system we decide to play."

This time he has re-enlisted the likes of David Weir and Paul Hartley. Kenny Miller is likely to lead the attack, giving the side a wealth of international and European knowledge along the spine and having named a larger squad of 26, he is hoping that he can absorb any injury-enforced call-offs and ensure there will be no need to bring in last minute replacements, although he has already lost Andy Webster to a hamstring problem.

"If you look at Lithuania they are only a few places behind us in the FIFA rankings (Scotland are ranked 41, Lithuania 52] and that's close enough for home advantage to make them favourites. But looking at our squad, I have every confidence in the players. Provided we don't have a wholesale exodus like we had for the last game then I am very comfortable with the players I have got.

"Look at Scotland's recent history in international friendlies, there have probably been at least four or five call-offs for each one. I had hoped to go from, okay, not playing brilliantly against the Czech Republic in my first match but we got the result, and build on that but it was pretty obvious that the friendly matches don't have anywhere near the significance that the competitive matches do."The group of players we have got now, you have to remember that most of the guys haven't qualified for anything on the international scene so they are desperate to qualify this time. Subconsciously, they know that a friendly doesn't qualify you for anything but believe me this is a different situation all together and that's why when you are playing for real you need players who have been over the course before, guys like Weir and Hartley and I will get Scott Brown back and McCulloch back and I didn't play McManus or Miller against Sweden but I will get them back and all of a sudden you are seeing guys who have been over the course before and understand the nature of international football."

Having been there before they will know the magnitude of the task ahead of them. The last time Scotland qualified for a major championships was France 98. They lost just one of their qualifiers and drew two. Every other match was won. Since then fortunes have faded and so has the country's standing. Now seedings make qualification tougher than ever. In the recent World Cup qualifiers, Scotland won less than half their matches. Levein knows that has to change. He says that drawing the match in Lithuania will not be a disaster but he is well aware that three points away from home against one of their main challengers for second spot behind group favourites Spain, would be a huge boost to the team's confidence and Scotland's chances of making another football jamboree.

In the failed bid to join the World Cup party in South Africa, Scotland did not get that fillip. They lost limply to Macedonia in the opener and struggled thereafter. Levein's own scouting missions as well as recent history have warned him that any victory will need to be hard-fought. Scanning the Lithuanian side he knows the dangers. He says they are well-drilled and mentally and physically tough. They give everything they have got and Scotland need to match that. They also need to contend with the threat on the flanks from the former Hearts players, Deividas Cesnauskis and Saulius Mikoliunas. "On their day they will go and take people on and get crosses in the box and Tomas Danilevicius is 6ft 3in and is decent in the air and Darvydas Sernas, who plays with him, is a lively little striker, so they will play a certain way and will put the ball in the box and they play with great enthusiasm and energy."

Enthusiasm, cohesion, energy and steel. Few of those traits were evident in the Scottish team in Sweden. But this is competitive action and Levein believes he has the men for the job. He just has to hope they make it to Mar Hall unscathed.

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euro 2000 qualifying

Lithuania 0, Scotland 0

Scotland 3, Lithuania 0

euro 2004 qualifying

Lithuania 1, Scotland 0

Scotland 1, Lithuania 0

euro 2008 qualifying

Lithuania 1, Scotland 2

Scotland 3, Lithuania 1

Euro 2012 fixtures

3 Sept 2010: Lithuania (A)

7 Sept: Liechtenstein (H)

8 Oct: Czech Rep (A)

12 Oct: Spain (H)

3 Sept 2011: Czech Rep (H)

6 Sept: Lithuania (H)

8 Oct: Liechtenstein (A)

11 Oct: Spain (A)