Stuart Armstrong insists Scotland are determined to make Dublin a first travel stop on route to Germany.
Steve Clarke ’s squad head for Ireland today ahead of tomorrow’s Nations League showdown against the Republic in the Aviva Stadium.
Scotland currently top Group B1 after an opening success over Armenia and can make it six points from six by sinking Stephen Kenny’s men.
With the dreams of reaching the World Cup in Qatar over, the 2024 Euros in Germany is the next big target for the troops.
Clarke’s men famously qualified for the tournament's previous staging after earning a play-off spot by winning their Nations League section under Alex McLeish.
Armstrong says the importance of the competition is not lost on the squad with their ultimate aim to return to a showpiece after tasting the big time last year.
Ahead of the section's first away game, he said: “Every fixture that we go into, we want to maximise what we can out of it and show that we can reach major tournaments.
“It’s obviously the ultimate ambition and this is a pathway to that. We want to have a good start, which we have had, and continue on.
“I think there is a big belief in the squad, there is a lot of togetherness, the group is excellent.
“Everyone believes in ourselves and what we can achieve, hopefully, reach another major tournament.”
Clarke could shuffle his pack again for the game against the Irish having made changes for the Armenia clash following the World Cup play-off loss to Ukraine.
Armstrong believes the strength in depth within the Scotland squad could be vital in Dublin and again for Tuesday’s game against the Armenians in Yerevan.
He explained: “The next week is busy for us. We have a tight turnaround for Saturday, a lot of recovery and not too much preparation time.
“But we have had a week since the last game also, so we have done some preparation and analysis and things like that.
“There is a short amount of time between, so I imagine we will look at it in more depth in the next couple of days.
“Three fixtures in a week is a lot, but I think throughout the squad there is a lot of depth there and obviously boys who are used to playing a lot of games in a short space of time.
“When you want to freshen up the team, which you have to when the fixtures are so tight, the quality of the team doesn’t weaken. That is a great thing.
“We have another two fixtures to look forward to and the rotation of the squad is very important.”
Clarke’s squad head across the Irish Sea to face a host nation under intense pressure just two games into the Group B1 campaign.
Kenny’s team have lost both of their opening two fixtures to Armenia and Ukraine without scoring a goal and criticism has cascaded onto the manager and his players.
Armstrong is aware of the situation and said: “Yeah, of course, they will be looking to get off the mark against us. It is a different challenge.”
