Fjord focus

On the shores of Loch Lomond this weekend, Scotland are preparing for a World Cup qualifying match in Oslo, the magnitude of which ought not to be lost in the phoney war that is pre-season.

Their crucial Group 9 clash with Norway has a surreal dimension to it, a bit like a birthday during the festive period: people tell you it's important, but with so much else going on, you have to wonder. Defeat on Wednesday might not seem like the end of the world, not with a summer sun to soothe the hangover, but it will on the long dark nights of winter, if Scotland have missed out on another major finals.

While the team's fate will not be decided until early next month, when a double-header completes the section, squeaky bum time is already upon us. Two wins from their three remaining matches would effectively secure Scotland second place, but their strike rate so far has been shy of that mark, and their final opponents are Holland, the group's runaway winners. Not the slightest lapse in concentration can be tolerated in the quest to finish among the eight best runners-up who will contest the play-offs.

Their manager, George Burley, is convinced that the players are mature enough to appreciate what is at stake. "When I look back on my career, I always think about going to Spain in 1982. And these boys are three games away from a play-off that could take them to South Africa. It doesn't get any bigger. I think they realise that, and the more they think about it, the more it is spurring them on. You might only get one opportunity to reach a World Cup finals, and we are three games away from the play-offs. It's all there for them. I don't think the hunger, the desire or the passion will be lacking."

Neither does James McFadden, who has every reason to be distracted. He and his Birmingham City team-mates will mark their return to the Barclays Premier League with a trip to Old Trafford next weekend, but the former Motherwell player is not so carried away with the hype that he cannot see the bigger picture. The last thing he wants to be doing at the end of such a big season for the Midlands club is watching from his armchair a competition that he could have been part of. That's something he has done too often already. "It's the best teams in the world playing against each other so it's a good spectacle to watch, but there is definitely a wee hint of jealousy. Everybody wants to play in the big tournaments and sample what it is like. It's been long enough since Scotland have been there."

McFadden, whose medial ligament injury kept him out of Burley's last two teams, is one of seven Scotland players plying their trade in England's top flight, but he is unlikely ever to match at club level that which he has achieved on the international stage. History will surely remember him for that famous winner in Paris nearly two years ago, unless of course he has something more up the sleeve of that dark blue shirt. "Hopefully I can do a bit more than be remembered for that goal," he says. "Obviously it's nice it happened, and I'm really proud of it, but I'm 26, not 36. There is plenty of football left in me. I want to get to the finals of a major championship and be remembered as someone who played there for Scotland, and hopefully got through the group stages as well."

The date of Scotland's latest fixture presents Burley with a challenge, physical as well as psychological. Unlike many of the Norwegian players, who are halfway through their domestic season, the Scots' stamina and fitness will not be complemented by match sharpness. Which is why he has described as "ridiculous" UEFA's refusal to accommodate the game a week later. The manager has no form on which to base his team selection, and will not be picking a side, even in his head, until Tuesday. Burley's decisions have always been influenced by his observations on the training ground, more of which will be made during these next few days than ever before. The Celtic manager, Tony Mowbray, offered to give Scott Brown 45 minutes of action in yesterday's friendly against Manchester City, but the national coach decided against it, preferring to see for himself how far the midfielder is from full fitness. "This week, it will be more important than ever to assess how they look in training," says Burley. "I want to see how they have come through pre-season. I want to see how sharp they are. Some might look sharper than others simply because they are at a more advanced stage."

Burley's plan is to build on the progress made against Iceland in April when inexperienced youngsters such as Ross McCormack and James Morrison contributed to a 2-1 triumph. The problem is that four of the players who started that match – Morrison, Craig Gordon, Stephen McManus and Gary Naysmith – are missing, and there could be more to follow. Among those at risk is Darren Fletcher, who will represent Manchester United in this afternoon's Community Shield against Chelsea. Although the match practice will be useful, he has played in a few already, and it is more than outweighed by the threat of injury. "I want to know what I've got," says Burley. "We travel on Monday. Playing on the Sunday means that we won't be able to do much training with him the next day."

At which point, Burley checks himself and smiles, anxious not to be seen as angry with Fletcher's priorities. "It's a bit of an impossible position. It's live on TV, with 90,000 people there. It's a big game. And the competition at Man United is hot. You can understand it."

Fletcher, though, is a worry, and not the only one. Burley has vowed to play with no fear in Oslo, to get the ball down, and spray it wide, none of which addresses what is likely to be, quite literally, Scotland's biggest challenge. John Carew, the towering Aston Villa striker, caused all sorts of problems in the scoreless draw at Hampden less than a year ago, which may or may not have prompted the manager to drop David Weir in favour of Burnley's Steven Caldwell. With Gordon injured, and Allan McGregor out of the picture, neither is there an experienced goalkeeper to handle what could be an awkward night.

With former Wimbledon coach Egil Olsen returning to the international fold seven months ago, it's not difficult to guess how Norway will play. "They will try and get the ball up to Carew," says Burley. "Long throws, free kicks. They try and win the second balls from them. I think there is going to be an aerial onslaught, which we will have to deal with." Scotland must rise to the challenge, whether they are ready or not.