How much of a threat are Belarus to Scotland?

Belarus lost heavily in Greece on Friday

World Cup qualiying: Belarus v Scotland

Venue: ZTE Arena, Zalaegerszeg Date: Monday, 8 September Time: 19:45 GMT

Coverage: Watch live on BBC Scotland and the BBC iPlayer; listen live on BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Scotland; follow live updates, goal clips, and be part of the conversation on the BBC Sport website & app

As Scotland were doughtily battling their way to a point in Copenhagen on Friday, Belarus were learning just how tasty this current Greece side are, as goals flew past Pavel Pavlyuchenko, ending the game as a contest after 21 minutes.

The one solace for Belarus was that they stemmed the tide in the second half and grabbed a consolation from the penalty spot through German Barkovskiy.

And so as the countries make their way to the Hungarian town of Zalaegerszeg for the fifth meeting between the two countries, the question is 'how much of a threat do the Belarusians pose to Scotland's chances of World Cup qualification?'

Quality of Hleb is distant memory

In theory, the answer should be 'not much', looking at the relative strength of each squad and the level at which the respective sets of players ply their trade.

Belarus no longer have a talisman of the stature of Aleksandr Hleb, who tortured the Scots at Hampden in their shock win over Walter Smith's team in 2005, or a striker of the quality of Vitaly Kutusov, whose goal won that game.

Without question they still have decent players, such as Valeriy Gromyko, who along with his international team-mate Aleksandr Martynovich helped Kairat Almaty despatch Celtic in their Champions League play-off.

So as Steve Clarke stressed straight after the draw in Denmark, Scotland will show Belarus the utmost respect.

Lack of home comforts prove problem

They have not, however, had the greatest 'home' record since being obliged by Fifa to play at a neutral venue - and behind closed doors - as a result of the country's support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Indeed, they have only overcome Andorra and Kosovo in the 11 competitive games played under such circumstances, drawing all three in Zalaegerszeg during the most Nations League campaign against Bulgaria, Luxembourg and Northern Ireland.

Belarus are growing used to adversity.

Visa issues delayed their journey from Athens to Hungary, their adopted home, but it is the very fact of playing constantly outside of Belarus and without the backing of supporters that is most testing, according to head coach Carlos Alos.

"When you don't buy a home, you rent a home, it is not the same, it is not your home," said the Spaniard.

"We have always troubles, never play at home, never time to be in our home to prepare some games. We spend almost no time in Belarus.

"Ask the coach of Scotland if he prefers to play at home or away, he will say we prefer to play always at home.

"We are very appreciative of the support we receive [in Hungary], but it is not our home. We want to play with our supporters."

Who knows when they will be allowed to do so again, but for now the Belarus players will continue to struggle against the odds for reasons beyond their control.