Wednesday 7 October 2015 13:37, UK
Scotland have to stop more than just goal machine Robert Lewandowski if they are to triumph against Poland on Thursday, according to David Weir.
Defeat to the Poles in the crucial Euro 2016 qualifier will result in the Tartan Army continuing their absence from major finals since the 1998 World Cup.
Much of the attention in the build up to the match has focused on how Gordon Strachan's men can prevent Lewandowski from maintaining his imperious form in front of goal.
But former Scotland captain Weir says Strachan's side can't just concentrate on the Bayern Munich striker as Poland possess other talented players.
He said: "It would be a mistake to focus purely on one individual. He's a fantastic player, there's no getting away from that, but they've got other good players as well."
"There's more than one way stop people playing. It's not just a matter of focusing on one player. You can stop the supply and minimise their ability to get the ball to him."
"Scotland's strength is almost the opposite, rather than have a superstar they've got a team full of good players playing at a good level working together and I think that's the key for me."
The current Rangers assistant manager has plenty of experience from his playing days of coming up against world-class strikers. In his time in a Scotland jersey he faced the likes of Francesco Totti, Robin van Persie and Thierry Henry.
And Weir claims fixating on the opposition isn't always the best option.
"You've got to perform yourself, there's no point in worrying about everyone else and how to stop the opposition and then forgetting to perform yourself," he said.
"Scotland will have a game plan and they have to win the game so I don't think there's any point in trying to minimise the opposition."
The former Everton defender doesn't think Scotland's failure to reach a major finals since 1998 is down to the subsequent teams lacking character.
He was an ever present during the qualifying campaign for the 2008 European Championship. Two unforgettable victories against World Cup finalists France put Scotland to within touching distance of qualifying.
But a defeat to Italy in the final game of the group meant Scotland narrowly missed out. Weir insists Scotland did perform well against the Italians and that failing to qualify wasn't down to a lack of bottle.
He said: "On that day Scotland did turn up in what was a massive game. Just fate conspired against us with the way the game went, the incidents in the game and that little bit of luck didn't go our way."
"But we performed against really good opposition so I think that's the main thing this weekend. The team need to turn up and hopefully with a little bit of luck things within the game that need to go our way happen."
"As a player you get excited about games that mean something and these games genuinely couldn't be much bigger. In these games when the whole nation is watching and there's no other show in town in regards to football, they really are special."
Weir managed to accumulate 69 caps for the Tartan Army under various different managers. He retired from international football in 2002 under Berti Vogts but came back when Walter Smith took over.
He made his debut for the national team in a 1-0 friendly loss to Wales in 1997. Just a year later he was part of the Scotland squad for France '98.
The former Rangers captain believes the country deserves to get to a major finals, having missed out for over 17 years. If the current squad do manage to make the tournament in France next year, Weir says it's an experience the players won't forget in a hurry.
"It's the best experience an international player can have. You go away as a group, the unity and the bonding and the whole country is behind you. The last one was in France in '98, hopefully this can be the next one and the players can experience that."
"The fans will turn out in their numbers. It's a massive occasion for the fans and the players. It's the pinnacle with regards to representing your country and all that goes with that. "
You can watch Scotland v Poland live on Sky Sports 2 from 1930 on Thursday.
