Scotland boss Steve Clarke tells Sky Sports: "It was a chance to freshen it up. I wanted an attack-minded team and I think I've got that.

"The instruction to everybody is to be on the front foot, be positive and get the goals we need to win the game.

"Moldova could be stuffy opponents, it's up to us to get the crowd on side. If we show the crowd we are on the front foot they will stay with us."

The Hampden crowd are giving it laldy to Flower of Scotland...

Hampden Park is not full but there's a very healthy crowd in attendance and they are making themselves heard as the teams come out for the national anthems.

There were around 10,000 of the Tartan Army at the national stadium for both Euro 2020 games against Czech Republic and Croatia.

But there has not been a proper unrestricted attendance for a home international since 19 November 2019 when 19,515 turned up for a 3-1 win over Kazakhstan.

John McGinn has scored nine goals in eight home qualifiers for the Euros & World Cup – no player has ever netted more goals on home soil for Scotland in qualifying matches, with Ally McCoist also scoring nine in 21 appearances.

McGinn has scored in each of his last two home World Cup qualifying matches – the only players to score in three in a row are Mo Johnston (October 1988 – April 1989) and Kevin Gallacher (April – October 1997).

Image source, SNS

Tom English
BBC Scotland's chief sports writer on BBC Sportsound

Image source, SNS

Scotland have lost three of their last four competitive matches (one draw), more than they had in their previous 14 such matches (W7 D5).

Scotland are unbeaten in their last eight home World Cup qualifiers (W5 D3) since losing 2-0 to Belgium back in September 2013.

Craig Levein
Former Scotland manager on BBC Sportsound

Earlier in the failed World Cup 2006 qualifying campaign, Scotland were held to a 1-1 draw in Chisinau. Steven Thompson levelled the game shortly after Moldova had scored in the first half.

Mr Thompson will be along later to present highlights of tonight's game on Sportscene. That's on BBC One Scotland at 22:35.

He'll have former international wingers Neil McCann and Chris Burke for company.

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Moldova have been to Hampden once before, with substitutes Christian Dailly and James McFadden scoring second-half goals in a 2-0 win for Scotland in June 2005.

McFadden's goal came in the 89th minute, making it a bit of an awkward afternoon for the Tartan Army.

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Tom English
BBC Scotland's chief sports writer on BBC Sportsound

Willie Miller
Former Scotland defender on BBC Sportsound

After losing 2-0 at home to Austria on Wednesday, Moldova have just one point from their four matches.

That came from their opening 1-1 draw at home to the Faroe Islands, while they were trounced 8-0 in Denmark and lost 4-1 to Israel on home soil.

They have lost 13 of their last 16 away qualifiers and are currently ranked 175th on Fifa's world list - between Indonesia & St Lucia.

Scotland are ranked 49th.

Stuart McCall
Former Scotland midfielder on BBC Sportsound

Moldova head coach Roberto Bordin insists his side are not in Scotland to "make up the numbers".

"Playing at home in this stadium, Scotland are clearly going to be fired up, that's obvious," he said yesterday. "They are going to be under pressure and maybe we can put them under pressure too.

"They will try and get off to a fast start and we know they press and push a lot - we saw that in the Euros. But the longer we can stay in the game and stop them scoring, the better."

Former Napoli midfielder Roberto Bordin makes three changes to his side following their 2-0 home defeat by Austria as he seeks his first competitive victory as Moldova head coach.

Captain Igor Armaș returns to defence and Vadim Rața to midfield after the pair who play in Romania with Voluntari missed Wednesday's game through suspension.

Veteran defender Vadim Bolohan also returns, with Alexandr Belousov and Cristian Dros dropping to the bench and Veaceslav Posmac missing from the match-day squad.

Image source, Getty Images

Scotland manager Steve Clarke anticipates Moldova being "well-organised defensively".

"I watched the game against Austria the other day. Austria got a goal in first-half injury-time and then (their second goal) in the 96th minute, so they made it difficult for them," he said.

"We expect them to be resolute. They're a threat from set-pieces, as most nations are these days. We'll treat them with every respect but we hope to put on a performance for ourselves and the fans."

"We need points to keep us in contention so that come October, November we're in the mix for qualification," said Scotland manager Steve Clarke on Friday.

"We need a performance and a win against Moldova and that's what we're focusing on. We can't think too much about the Austria game.

"We have to win, nobody's shying away from that. If we can win and play well, it will be great. If we can just win, that will be fine. Hopefully the performance and result marry up.

"We'll be good though. The lads have been good in training. There's a little edge to them, you can feel it. They know they're going into a pivotal moment in the group so let's see what we produce."

Image source, SNS