Ikechi Anya has been very lively for Scotland in the opening 15 minutes, this time sending a dipping strike a yard or two wide from 20 yards.

Josh Magennis drives forward to prompt a Northern Ireland attack and then pops up on the right edge of the box to nod the ball into the path of Oliver Norwood but the Reading midfielder balloons a first-time shot high and wide.

Anonymous: "Loud music and fireworks, is that the extent of the SFA blue sky thinking! Pathetic, open a bar and give us a night out. Is it any wonder the crowds are low, we need a new SFA!"

Michael McGovern makes another smart save, getting down low to tip away a Ikechi Anya strike as Darren Fletcher works the ball out to the Watford wing-back from a corner.

This time Scotland come down the right flank, with Matt Ritchie cutting back on his left and delivering a deep cross, which is just too high for Shaun Maloney who stretches to send a looping header onto the roof of the net.

Scotland winger Ikechi Anya darts behind the visiting defence and gets to the byline to cuts it back for Steven Fletcher. The striker's first effort is blocked then he fires off a sharp strike, forcing Michael McGovern to push the ball over with both hands. Good save.

A loose ball out of the Scottish defence from Russell Martin is gathered by Stuart Dallas and the Brentford man darts forward to deliver a cross into the box but cannot find a team-mate.

Scotland get the game started...

The teams and supporters join in for a minute's applause in memory of the late Dave Mackay; a real Scotland legend.

The nations last met in the Nations Cup competition in 2011, with Scotland cruising to a 3-0 win in Dublin, while the most recent Hampden clash was a drab 0-0 in 2008, when Allan McGregor saved David Healy's penalty to deny the visitors.

Alasdair Muir on Twitter: "2-1 Scotland #bbcscotfootball"

What do you reckon? Will we get goals or will it be an easy-going friendly low on thrills?

The small band of Northern Ireland fans are making a right old racket, generating more noise than the home support. There are a lot of empty seats at Hampden as we prepare for the national anthems.

Do not adjust your sets... Northern Ireland are playing in blue, with the hosts in white, with touches of pink and yellow.

Time for a quick stat-attack, and it doesn't make good reading for fans of the visitors. Northern Ireland have gone 21 friendly games, home and away, without a win. They have lost 16 games in that sequence and scored just five goals, three of those in the same game.

Richard Wilson
BBC Scotland at Hampden

"Gordon Strachan providing opportunities for the likes of James McArthur and Craig Forsyth to play their way into the starting line-up for the Gibraltar game on Sunday. This will be a friendly with a competitive edge, since so many of the Scots and Northern Irish players work with or compete against each other in domestic football. It's a chance for Scotland to hone their attacking instincts, and Matt Ritchie's debut will draw a lot of attention since he has led the way with assists in the Championship for Bournemouth."

Stoke and Scotland midfielder Charlie Adam on Twitter: "A win tonight for @ScottishFA would set us up for Sunday's game. Good luck."

And there is a long list of Scottish connections in the Northern Ireland squad. Current players are goalkeepers Alan Mannus (St Johnstone) and Michael McGovern (Hamilton), as well as front men Josh Magennis (Kilmarnock) and Niall McGinn (Aberdeen).

Names who have sampled Scottish football in the past are one-time Rangers pair Steven Davis and Kyle Lafferty, ex-Celtic winger Paddy McCourt, and recently departed Inverness CT striker Billy McKay.

Others who were in Scotland are Roy Carroll, who was briefly on the books at Rangers, and Daniel Lafferty who was at Celtic and Ayr United.

Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill is certainly familiar with the territory. He lives in Edinburgh and spent a large chunk of his career playing in Scotland, with Dundee United and Hibernian among others.

Scotland boss Gordon Strachan started his international career in a 1-0 defeat at Windsor Park in 1980 and captained his country to a 1-0 success against tonight's visitors at Hampden on his penultimate appearance in 1992.

Asked yesterday, if he had any fond memories of his four meetings with Northern Ireland in his 50 caps, the former Celtic manager was typically blunt: "Not really. I never played well in any of those games. I wasn't very good on my debut and I nearly got Scotland knocked out of the 1982 World Cup when I gave the ball away and Asa Hartford made a clearance off the line."

Image source, SNS Group

Scotland's Mark Reynolds (centre) finds time for a quick chat with Northern Ireland's Niall McGinn (left) and Josh Magennis, his present and former team-mate and Aberdeen.