'Stars align' for Gibraltar's Scottish manager David Wilson

Nineteen members of the Gibraltar squad are semi-professional in their homeland

David Wilson is thrilled to be leading Gibraltar against his native Scotland in Sunday's Euro 2016 qualifier.

"You dream of it as a boy, walking out at Hampden," the visiting interim coach told BBC Radio Scotland.

"I'd made my mind up that a professional career in football wasn't for me 20 years ago.

"So what are the chances of finding a country to coach and then being lucky enough to draw Scotland? All of those stars have aligned."

A former Kilmarnock trainee, 40-year-old Wilson stepped from his assistant's role following Allen Bula's departure.

"It's surreal - what an adventure," said Wilson, who has four British-based players in his squad.

"I've got approximately 500 or 600 players to chose from. We discussed 38 players for this game and narrowed it down to 23 - what a contrast to [Scotland manager] Gordon Strachan."

Participating in their first qualifying contest, Gibraltar have lost all four of their matches in Group D, without scoring and conceding 21 goals.

"We're in our infancy in international football and we have a long, long way to go," added Wilson.

"It's always about damage limitation and then prolonged frustration, we've managed it in periods - the first 45 minutes against Poland [a 7-0 home loss], even with the Germans [4-0 in Nuremburg].

"If we can do that against world class strikers then we're doing our job."

Wilson made headlines at the weekend when he announced he would sing both national anthems at Hampden, although he told BBC Scotland he might tone it down when the home fans are in full flow.

"I'm no different to any other Scotsman," he explained. "I'm proud of where I'm from and my heritage.

"Every time I hear Flower of Scotland, I'm the first to jump up and sing it.

"I may not sing as passionately as I have in the past. My passion lies with my adopted country and the lads I've been with for the last two years.

"I'll sing the Gibraltar anthem the same way that I used to sing Flower of Scotland.

"I don't think I'm letting anyone down by singing both."