Scotland play Norway on Wednesday.......

THE SMELL of cut grass, another strip, maybe a new challenge: this time of year brings many things to mind, but the national side is not one of them.
On the shores of Loch Lomond this weekend, Scotland are preparing for a World Cup qualifying match in Oslo, the magnitude of which ought not to be lost in the phoney war that is pre-season.

Their crucial Group 9 clash with Norway has a surreal dimension to it, a bit like a birthday during the festive period: people tell you it's important, but with so much else going on, you have to wonder. Defeat on Wednesday might not seem like the end of the world, not with a summer sun to soothe the hangover, but it will on the long dark nights of winter, if Scotland have missed out on another major finals.