Nearly an opener for Scotland!

Anthony Ralston cushions an Andy Robertson delivery into the path of Stuart Armstrong, whose shot clips the post on its way past.

Encouraging stuff.

John McGinn arcs an inviting ball towards Andy Robertson galloping down Scotland's left flank, but Hovhannes Hambardzumyan intervenes with an excellent header behind.

Scotland can't make anything of the resulting corner but are soon back on the attack..

Neat early possession from Scotland as they spray the ball about the sodden Hampden turf.

Expect the hosts to see plenty of the ball tonight.

Scotland get us under way...

The players are on the pitch and the national anthems are being belted out, with Flower of Scotland filling the Hampden air.

Republic of Ireland are bidding to bounce back from their Armenia embarrassment when they host Ukraine in Dublin.

The Ukrainians endured even bigger disappointment, missing out on a World Cup place with defeat to Wales at the weekend.

Colin Moffat
BBC Scotland at Hampden

The rain is tumbling down as the stadium fills up.

A slick surface should be perfect for trying to open up the Armenians, who frustrated the Republic of Ireland with their cagey approach on Saturday.

A fast tempo and an early goal would get the crowd going and help banish painful memories of last week.

Scotland manager Steve Clarke tells Premier Sports: “Training’s been good, nice and sharp. The players are on it and they know how important the Nations League is in terms of getting a backup play-off spot if needed. We don’t want to need it, but it could be important.

"You can also boost your world ranking through the competition, which is always a realistic aim for us.

“I think we had a really good World Cup qualifying campaign and fell down at the last step. I said last week we all hurt together and hopefully from today we’re on to better things.

On tonight’s opponents, he adds: “They had conflicting results coming into this one. They lost heavily in a friendly to Norway but then they came out against Ireland and defended well to start before going on to win it."

Image source, SNS

Willie Miller
Former Scotland defender on BBC Sportsound

• This Nations League encounter is Scotland's first-ever meeting with Armenia.
• Scotland have gone three matches without a win after a run of six consecutive victories, last Wednesday's 3-1 loss to Ukraine ending an eight-game unbeaten run.
• Armenia have gone seven away games without a win since beating Luxembourg 1-0 in a March 2021 World Cup qualifier.
• Scotland remain in Nations League B after finishing second behind Czech Republic in their group two years ago, ahead of Israel and Slovakia.
• Armenia won promotion to League B after winning their League C group ahead of North Macedonia, Georgia and Estonia.
• While Scotland finished runners-up in their qualifying group for World Cup 2022 behind Denmark, Armenia were fourth in theirs, behind Germany, North Macedonia and Romania but ahead of Iceland and Liechtenstein.

• Norway inflicted Armenia's worst-ever defeat in March with a 9-0 victory in an Oslo friendly.

There is no David Marshall on the Scotland bench tonight after the 37-year-old announced his international retirement yesterday.

Marshall, who was one of four goalkeepers in Steve Clarke's squad for this current batch of games, bows out with 47 caps and enough memories to last a lifetime.

He was Scotland's shootout hero in the Euro 2020 play-off wins over Israel and Serbia, and then kept goal for all three group games last summer as Scotland returned to the main stage for the first time since 1998.

Manager Steve Clarke paid tribute this week, saying: "Bringing David back in was one of my first decisions when I took the Scotland job and it was an easy one.

"He quickly re-established himself in the team, playing a significant part in our qualification for the Euros, not just with that memorable penalty save but by being a reliable and reassuring presence in goal.

"I respect David's decision, even though I know he still has much to contribute as a goalkeeper at club level."

Craig Levein
Former Scotland manager on BBC Sportsound

Armenia sit a lowly 92nd in the world rankings - Scotland are 53 places higher in 39th - but have already claimed a scalp in this Nations League campaign, beating Republic of Ireland 1-0 in their opener last weekend.

Hailed as "one of the greatest victories" in Armenia's history by head coach Joaquin Caparros, it was also quite the contrast to their previous outing, a 9-0 shellacking from Norway in an Oslo friendly.

Led by 66-year-old Spaniard Caparros, Armenia won promotion to Nations League B in 2020 after topping a group including North Macedonia, Georgia and Estonia.

Midfielder Eduard Spertsyan was the match-winner against Ireland and the 22-year-old is one to watch, having scored eight goals in 25 games in helping Krasnodar finish fourth in the Russian top flight this season.

Armenia have found goals hard to come by on their travels, though, netting just once in their last five away games, while they haven't won in seven on the road.

Image source, SNS

Colin Moffat
BBC Scotland at Hampden

The standard Tartan Army party tunes are on but it's all rather subdued at the national stadium after last week's disappointment against Ukraine.

There are a smattering of fans all across the ground as the teams go through their final drills on the pristine turf.

I've seen one guy draped in an Armenia flag. Kim Kardashian and her sisters must be squeezing in a last pint after jumping off the number 34 bus.

Image source, SNS

Wales showed Scotland how it's done as they edged past Ukraine 1-0 to seal a World Cup spot in Sunday's play-off final.

A superb defensive performance shut out the Ukrainians, who had swarmed all over Scotland four days earlier in a 3-1 Hampden win.

It was a first defeat in nine for Steve Clarke's side and the manager has come in for a fair bit of flak since.

Can he answer his critics tonight with a convincing triumph?

Image source, SNS

Sportsound is now under way on BBC Radio Scotland MW and digital - simply click the link at the top of the page to listen.

Richard Gordon is at the helm and former Scotland manager Craig Levein and ex-captain Willie Miller are on pundit duty along with our own Tom English.

Liam McLeod will be your eyes and ears at Hampden with full live commentary.

Image source, SNS

The Nations League may be sniffed at by some, but it's a competition of real significance for Scotland.

The national team nabbed a play-off spot for Euro 2020 by winning their Nations League group in 2018-19 under previous boss Alex McLeish.

Steve Clarke then saw the job through - remember those nerve-shredding shootout wins over Israel and Serbia? - as the Scots ended a 23-year absence from major finals.

Now a potential back-door route to the Euro 2024 play-offs is at stake as Steve Clarke's side vie with group rivals Ukraine, Republic of Ireland and Ukraine.

And if Scotland win this section it will bump them up to second seeds for the Euro 2024 qualifying draw.

Image source, SNS

Celtic right-back Anthony Ralston makes his first Scotland start as one of six changes to the side that lost to Ukraine a week ago.

Ralston, 23, earns just his second cap and replaces Aaron Hickey while the back three is overhauled with Jack Hendry, Scott McKenna and John Souttar all drafted in.

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Ryan Christie gets the nod to fill the void left by striker Lyndon Dykes - who has withdrawn from the squad with a muscle injury - while fellow attacking midfielder Stuart Armstrong also starts.

Dropping to the bench along with Hickey are Grant Hanley, Liam Cooper, Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour.

Scotland: Gordon, Robertson, Ralston, Souttar, Hendry, McKenna, McGregor, McGinn, Armstrong, Christie, Adams.

Substitutes: Clark, Kelly, Patterson, McTominay, Hanley, Stewart, Gilmour, Cooper, Turnbull, Brown, Campbell, Hickey.

Armenia: Yurchenko, Hovhannisyan, Haroyan, Grigoryan, Bayramyan, Spertsyan, Barseghyan, Hovhannisyan, Mkoyan, Hambartsumyan, Adamyan.

Substitutes: Avagyan, Buchnev, Voskanyan, Wbeymar, Babayan, Harutyunyan, Margaryan, Udo, R Mkrtchyan, Dashyan, S Mkrtchyan, Bichakhchyan.