IT is a trait that cannot be taught and a skill that cannot be learned. It is, though, a mindset that Alex McLeish knows every Scotland team must possess.
As a player and a manager, McLeish understood the importance of fighting in the face of adversity, of showing a spirit and strength to ensure that success is always strived for.
On Wednesday night, Steve Clarke will require his players to prove their quality and their mentality against Armenia as Scotland begin their Nations League campaign.
There will be a sense of hangover at Hampden on the back of the defeat to Ukraine that ended Scotland's World Cup dreams and ensured the Tartan Army will watch on from afar as the action unfolds in Qatar.
But McLeish insists that setback cannot be allowed to derail Scotland as Clarke's side aim to get back to winning ways and start building all over again.
"I look back to Italy in 1990," McLeish said. "We lost the first game to Costa Rica but we showed the resilience, the bouncebackability, that’s needed now.
"Our nation has always seemed to have that. And that’s why I think these boys are capable of doing exactly that.
“We got hammered after losing to Costa Rica and the chat was there was going to be nine dropped for the Sweden game – and my name was in there too!
"So when I ended up getting picked I thought, ‘right I’m going to play a stormer’. It’s that Scotsman inside you that makes you want to do that.
"And we came back and performed against Sweden. And these lads have got those capabilities.
“That’s probably a good thing [it is straight into the next campaign]. The players will be smarting a bit.
"People think they’ll be going into this game with their heads down but I believe the opposite.
"They’ll be wanting to show people how far they’ve come by taking care of Armenia and then going to the Republic looking to get two positive results.”
The Armenia clash is the first of three Nations League fixtures on the schedule as Clarke also prepares for trips to Dublin and Yerevan in the coming days.
Questions have been raised about the manager and his players in the aftermath of the abject performance that saw Ukraine set up an ultimately futile meeting with Wales.
The negativity cannot be allowed to linger or fester, though. Scotland have suffered heartache before and the focus must now be on the future.
McLeish said: “It is a devastating disappointment. But the guys are playing at such a high level with their clubs that they know what the word resilience means.
"It’s a real setback. But at the same time those guys have been through a lot in terms of improvement their mentality, quality and technical levels because of the type of football they’re playing in the Premier League, for instance.
"When you’re playing at that level you’re own individual levels go sky-high. It’s that big club mentality and I believe they’ll have the resilience to bounce back.”
“I don’t think he (Clarke) has got anything to prove. But he’ll have that determination to do it again.
"That’s important for us and the players will be rallying around the manager as much as he’s rallying around them. That’s the level that they’re at.
"Andy Robertson has been through a lot of disappointments as well and always bounces back to tremendous levels again. I believe that we’ve got a squad full of guys like that.
“You don’t want to appear vulnerable [as a manager]. You always want to be an example to your players. Stevie will be cracking the whip again but in a gentle way.
“They have to [bounce back against Armenia]. There’s no other way. They have to just get right back on the horse.
"I believe that they’ll do it. And they’ve certainly got the capabilities to do that.”
*Alex McLeish was promoting Premier Sports live and exclusive coverage of Armenia v Scotland (8th June) and Republic of Ireland v Scotland (11th June). Premier Sports is available from £9.99 per month and available on the platforms Sky, Virgin TV, Premier Player and Amazon Prime as an add-on subscription.
