IT starts to get serious now. It may seem that Scotland’s campaign to qualify for Euro 2016 has been going on for an eternity but we are, at last, not far from the finishing line. In the attempt to reach a major football finals for the first time in 18 years, it is death or glory from here on in.

Exactly a year on from the opening blows, only four matches remain in qualifying Group D, bundled neatly into two blocks of two games. By mid-October an impatient nation will likely know whether Scotland will be represented in France next summer – securing a play-off place could yet extend the agony – or watching at home on television for a ninth tourn-ament in succession.

Gordon Strachan’s side are in a reasonable position after six games albeit with plenty still to do. Lying third, three points behind leaders Poland and two behind Germany, they could yet finish in one of the two automatic qualification places, clinch a berth as the best third-placed side from the nine groups, go into a two-legged play-off as one of the other eight third-place finishers, or miss out entirely.

Scotland’s form under Strachan lends itself to a positive outlook, although the Tartan Army could be forgiven for taking a more pessimistic view given the national team’s recent propensity for reaching promising positions only to eventually fall short. They have seen this movie many times before.

How they fare over the next eight days will go a long way in deciding Scotland’s fate. First there is a potentially perilous trip to play Georgia in Tbilisi on Friday – the country where Scotland’s Euro 2008 qualifying aspirations were effectively buried – before they welcome world champions Germany to Hampden a week tomorrow.

Strachan is not one for idly speculating about just how many points Scotland might need to qualify but, even against the might of Germany and Poland, in particular, he has not ruled out the prospect of his side finishing top of the pile come October 11.

“The games are getting important because we’re in there, we want to win the whole thing and get as many points as possible,” he said. “For that reason we don’t say we’re trying to pick up a point here and a point there. We just go out there and try to win games.

“I don’t think any player has heard me say, ‘Listen, let’s play for a draw’. I wouldn’t know how to do that anyway. So they are becoming more significant and as far as I’m concerned they’re getting more exciting.

“When the players come along this time they know they are four games away from playing in a top tournament so I don’t need to say too much to them. The plan is to get through but I do believe that anybody in the top three just now – and I still think Ireland can qualify – can win the group. Before we started I thought Germany would win it. They’re the world champions and they qualify for every tournament they play for; I think it was the 1960s, the last time they didn’t.

“With the brilliant form of Poland and our performances and the Republic’s performances – their draw over there – it’s made it a bit more difficult for Germany. Also because of the transition Germany have made as world champions, with a lot of people retiring and changing the team about, that has affected them.”

The Scotland players will start to report at their Renfrewshire base this evening, with those travelling from further afield or playing today turning up tomorrow. Time is such a precious commodity during international get-togethers that Strachan does not plan to waste any of it this week. With the team flying out to Georgia on Wednesday he plans on telling the players his plans as early as possible.

“The players will know within 12 hours of when we meet up exactly how we’re going to play,” he said. “There won’t be anyone wondering, ‘what are we going to do?’ right up until the last minute.”

Georgia have not had the best of campaigns but their capacity to derail Scotland’s ambitions remains undiminished. They have proved to be especially obdurate at home, with the Republic of Ireland needing an injury-time goal from Aiden McGeady to eke out a victory while all four of Poland’s goals in Tbilisi arrived in the final 40 minutes.

They have changed managers since their 1-0 defeat to Scotland at Ibrox last October – Kakhaber Tskhadadze has replaced Temuri Ketsbaia – and Strachan is well aware of the threat they will pose.

“When you change a manager you get that initial lift,” Strachan said. “I have to say the last time we played them they were really dogmatic in the way they played. But they have a real pride in themselves this group. If you have a look at their game in Poland, it was 4-0 but three of the goals were scored in injury time.

“At one down Georgia had a couple of real good chances to equalise. So if you actually look at their 90-minute performance it was fantastic, it really was. They got beaten by Ireland when Aiden scored right with the last kick of the ball. So it will be difficult but this is the challenge.”

The temptation to look ahead to the visit of Germany will be tempting but Strachan and his players can’t allow themselves that luxury.

“I’d say it’s everything on Georgia for now,” confirmed the manager. “What we’ll do is put things into place so that we’re ready to go as soon as that game is finished.

“We’ll have people watching Germany against Poland [on Friday night] so we know what’s going on and we’ll know what our training should be. So we’ll be concentrating everything on Georgia until we jump on the bus afterwards.

“Then we’ll ask how the players are feeling. We’ll think about what’s best for them; do we calm them down or bring them up? There are all sorts of things we can’t deal with until the Georgia game is out of the way.”