Khvicha Kvaratskhelia admits he's "tired" after a long season - but he's determined to end three frustrating months by shooting down Scotland in the hunt to qualify for Euro 2024.
The man dubbed 'Kvaradona' for his exploits at Napoli was one of the stories of last season as his goals and stunning performances set his team on their way to a first Scudetto in more than 30 years. He had 19 goals by March but has now gone 15 games without hitting the back of the net. He has 10 goals in just 21 caps for his country but hasn't scored in their last two and he's determined to bring that dry spell to an end.
Georges Mikautadze and Zuriko Davitashvili were the scorers in a 2-1 win over Cyprus that keeps Georgia in the hunt in Group A and if they can beat Steve Clarke's flying Scots at Hampden on Tuesday night, they would go just two points behind the leaders with a game in hand. And Kvaratskhelia is adamant his dry spell is coming to an end.
He said: "It's an unfortunate period for me in terms of my goals. I don't think I have been playing badly, I just think I have been unlucky. Look, it's been a long, hard season for me at Napoli. I have played a lot of games and I admit I am tired now. But I still think I can score in Scotland.
"Winning in Cyprus was a very important victory for us. Now we go to Glasgow with only one aim...to win. It doesn't really matter who scores the goals for us. The most important thing is to get three points. On Saturday it was Georges Mikautadze and Zuriko Davitashvili who scored and we won, which was our aim."
Kvaratskhelia credits teammate Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa for his outstanding season in Italy. He explained: "We were getting a train to Rome to play Lazio and Anguissa sat down with me for an hour.
"He basically gave me a speech about Serie A, what to expect and how to play. He explained the characteristics of players in detail and what to do and what not to do. That changed everything. I have had great support from friends and family, but that chat was the moment I knew what I had to do last season in Italy. It was down to him."
