Kheredine Idessane
BBC Sport Scotland

Kilmarnock assistant Andy Millen has today been praising his former boss, Steve Clarke, for taking Scotland to the brink of qualifying for a major tournament again.

Millen is certain Clarke will have worked up a comprehensive dossier on Serbia for this evening’s winner-takes-all tie but says it’s now up to the players to handle the magnitude of the occasion and the expectation of the nation.

The much-travelled former defender worked with Clarke for two years at Rugby Park and says he is not surprised Scotland are now unbeaten in their last eight matches, describing him as "humble, hard-working and knowledgeable".

"He’s shown people just how good a manager he is to get us as close as this," Millen says. “What an opportunity these players have to lead a nation. They would go down as legends because they’ve been out the game so much, since 1998, in terms of championships."

Image source, SNS

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland at Tynecastle Park

Croatia know they musty win to keep alive their hopes of topping Group 4 and have certainly started the game on the front foot.

The Croatia captain, Nikola Moro, the most experienced player in their staring line up with 18 under-21 caps, is pulling the strings in the middle of the pitch and its easy to see why Dynamo Moscow made their move for the 22-year-old in the summer.

Scotland striker Lyndon Dykes spoke to former Queen of the South team-mate - and Sportscene pundit - James McFadden about his decision to turn down his native Australia.

Watch the interview with Queens Park Rangers' summer signing from Livingston below.

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland at Tynecastle Park

Scotland Under-21 head coach Scot Gemmill has made six changes to the side that defeated San Marino in October.

Hibernian's Ryan Porteous, Middlesbrough's Patrick Reading and Feyenoord's George Johnston return to the defence, with Aberdeen's Lewis Ferguson and Motherwell's Allan Campbell back in midfield. Ross McCrorie, on loan with Aberdeen from Rangers, also comes back into midfield to captain the team.

Croatia have scored more goals than any other in the group (28), including 17 in two matches against San Marino. Scotland were 2-1 winners in Croatia last year, with Connor McLennan scoring both late on, although Gemmill admits that the hosts had the bulk of the game.

Image source, SNS

Scotland head coach Steve Clarke tells Amy Irons of BBC Scotland's The Nine that any celebrations would be fleeting if his side win in Serbia.

Do we really believe that?

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland at Tynecastle Park

Scotland Under-21s have their own date with destiny this afternoon as they host Croatia in their own European Championship qualifier.

Win at Tynecastle and Scot Gemmill's side will leap to the top of Group 4 with just one round of fixtures left to play.

Croatia must win to maintain their challenge for the top spot, while current group leaders Czech Republic play their final match tomorrow against Greece.

The winners of the nine groups will be joined at next year's finals by co-hosts Hungary and Slovenia. The top five runners-up will also qualify.

Meet the Tartan Army's Martin Riddell, who is missing his first away qualifier in 20 years because Covid-19 restrictions prevented him going to Serbia.

Celtic winger Mohamed Elyounoussi says Scotland will "need to be more aggressive than we were" having played in the Norway side that lost 2-1 at home to Serbia in their Euro 2020 play-off semi-final.

Scotland head coach Steve Clarke hopes his players can make the nation "proud" by delivering a Euro 2020 place in tonight's play-off against Serbia.

The big news from the Serbia camp today, of course, is that Crystal Palace captain Luka Milivojevic has tested positive for Covid-19.

The 29-year-old midfielder was tested twice after joining the national squad ahead of tonight's play-off final with Scotland.

Serbia's FA has stressed that all its other players and staff had tested negative.

Midfielder Filip Djuricic, who plays for Sassuolo in Serie A, had pulled out of the game after testing positive before the squad assembled.

The loss of Milivojevic is unlikely to affect head coach Ljubisa Tumbakovic's plans too much as the Palace man has not been in the starting line-up recently.

Image source, Get

Poor Alan's got a fashion dilemma to sort before 19:45 tonight!

He's right, though, got to be France 98?

Image source, Twitter

As mentioned earlier, you guys have gone for a 4-3-3 formation in our squad selector, with Leigh Griffiths given a surprise start up front.

With Steve Clarke almost certain to continue with his three at the back system, I would imagine this below is a more likely starting XI tonight.

Unfortunately, our system doesn't allow for one up front, but I would imagine Ryan Christie will operate more alongside John McGinn at the front of a midfield diamond just behind Lyndon Dykes.

Thumbs up if you like the look of this one, thumbs down if you don't. You can still make your own selection here.

As mentioned earlier, B*witched were the UK's number one with C'est La Vie when Scotland last kicked off (against Brazil) at a major finals - the 1998 World Cup.

By the time Craig Brown's side had made a sad exit after an embarrassing 3-0 defeat by Morocco, just to rub it in, Baddiel, Skinner and the Lightning Seeds had taken over top spot with their admittedly more catchy Three Lions 98 ode to the England squad.

But what was number one on the night Scotland beat Latvia 2-0 to clinch qualification on 11 October 1997? It was Elton John with Candle In The Wind as events blew Scotland's way. This time, it is a song called Positions, so are we in for an Ariana Grande finish by Steve Clarke's side?

Image source, Getty Images

Scotland will not be cowed by the weight of history, captain Andy Robertson has said as he pledged "the hopes of a nation" can inspire his side in the Euro 2020 play-off final with Serbia.

You can listen to what the Liverpool left-back said by clicking the link below.

While we are on the subject of music, Radio 1 Newsbeat has been chatting to Scotland midfielder-come-defender Scott McTominay about his pre-match rituals, his dad's advice and his DJing skills.

He reveals that he sometimes DJs for his Manchester United team-mates but that the Scotland squad are less enthusiastic about his taste for American hip hop and R&B. At least his name check for Future, Lil Baby and Roddy Ricch is an improvement on the footballers' usual taste for Drake and Usher - only slightly better though!

Written by BA Robertson and performed by actor John Gordon Sinclair and Scotland World Cup squad in 1982, We Have A Dream is one of the best-ever Scottish football songs.

Well, it has now been reimagined by emerging Scottish singer Luke La Volpe - yes, the 23-year-old is from Bathgate despite the Italian roots of his surname.

The best cover versions are those that veer away from a pure copy of the original and this one certainly does that, in a George Ezra kind of way. The Englishman had a big hit singing about Budapest, so maybe our man's follow-up will be Belgrade if Scotland can secure a result that deserves being celebrated in song.