Scotland v Rep Ireland: Charlie Nicholas and Niall Quinn expect fast-paced European Qualifier

Sky Sports pundits Charlie Nicholas and Niall Quinn preview Friday's vital European Qualifier between Scotland and Ireland...

Bragging rights and vital European Qualifier points will be up for grabs when Republic of Ireland visit Scotland on Friday night, live on Sky Sports.

Live Euro 2016 Qualifiers

Martin O’Neill’s side sit joint top of Group D, with Poland, on seven points and a victory in Glasgow will take them six clear of Gordon Strachan’s improving Scotland as the halfway stage nears.

Ahead of the game at Celtic Park, we asked two in-the-know Sky Sports pundits – former Scotland forward Charlie Nicholas and ex-Ireland striker Niall Quinn – to tell us where this crunch contest could be won and lost.

So read on for the boys’ take and to learn what they think the result will be…

How does your country go about winning this game?

CHARLIE NICHOLAS: The one thing that’s guaranteed on Friday night is that, because we are playing Ireland, the Scottish fans will implore the players to get the ball up front and in the box. So, in a way, the players will need to ignore the crowd and say: ‘No, no, midfield is key for us here’.

Going on from that, though, I think the wide areas are going to be vital. It’s unfortunate that Alan Hutton is injured – Steven Whittaker, who is better surging forward than going in the other direction, should replace him at right-back.

But I hope Hull’s Andrew Robertson gets a go at left-back because those are the areas where Scotland can manipulate and control the game. If we get our full-backs high up the pitch, I think we could win the match. If we don’t, we won’t.

Scotland are keeping the ball a bit better in this campaign, too, but we are not yet sure which are the best areas to keep it in. What we can’t do on Friday is waste our time just knocking it around at the back. We need to try and dominate the ball in midfield – which we can do if the full-backs press – but also move it with a purpose and get the wide boys bombing on. We used to go into games thinking about scoring from a set-piece but with Scotland and Ireland so balanced in that department, it is out wide where I see this qualifier being won and lost.

NIALL QUINN: Ireland’s late winner in Georgia and subsequent late equaliser in Germany has been a real tonic for the team, so they will head into Friday’s game confident in their ability. Still, the approach against Germany was a pretty cautious one – understandable when you think midfielder David Meyler was playing at full-back and needed a bit of protection so Jonathan Walters played on the right instead of an out-and-out winger – and I think they will need to be a bit more attacking against Scotland.

Coleman’s return will help that, as he is a proper full-back and a real menace going forward, and I expect to see an aggressive Ireland performance. I’m not advocating booting the ball up field and chasing after it because possession will be important but we must be brave and find a way to interact Coleman, Aiden McGeady and James McClean.

Ireland will have to be wary of how Scotland have improved and how good they are on the break, but as the onus is on Scotland to come out, win this game and close the three-point gap between the two sides, I think Ireland will get in beh