Still a bitter taste for the Greeks would spoil Scotland’s hopes

First, there is the timely bonus of Greece losing three of its best players to injuries: West Ham defender Konstantinos Mavropanos, PAOK’s exciting winger Giannis Konstantelias, and striker Fotis Ionidis from £25m Portuguese club Sporting.

All three could have been named in the starting XI by Jovanovic who insisted this week that there was still plenty for his side to play for.

He added: “We have high-level matches ahead of us.

“Although it is not important in terms of points, every match for the national team is different and because we have talent, we are a team with perspective, we have a group of players who live for the national team, we must continue to play well.

“The players represent Greece in the best possible way. We must try to get back to good matches and victories.”

There could be some similarities between this Greek team and the Norwegian team that qualified Scotland for Euro 2024.

Big matches are likely to be right around the corner for this Greek team, and it would not be surprising to see them emulate what the Norwegians did this year and cause chaos in their Euro 2028 qualifying campaign.

These are the qualifiers that Jovanovic and his players are focusing on in less than two years, which will be sufficient warning for Scotland that this match will not be treated lightly by the hosts.

Scotland had already won in Piraeus this year when Scott McTominay’s penalty secured victory in the first leg in March, but the second half was a difficult affair following the introduction of dynamic youngster Konstantinos Karitsas who will certainly start this fixture before his 18th birthday this month.

He has assisted six goals in his last four appearances for Genk, including a brace against Braga in the Europa League last Thursday, while Benfica striker Vangelis Pavlidis will recreate the first-half screeching waste that Hampden gave last month several times since. He has 14 goals in 22 appearances this season for his club, and will be keen to start making amends.

Club Brugge winger Christos Tzoulis has already spoken of revenge on his mind after Scotland’s steal of three points four weeks ago suggesting the Greeks will not give Clarke’s men any easier trip on Saturday.

There may be a bitter taste in the Greeks’ mouths now, but that in itself may rob the Scots of the sweet taste of their success this month if they can turn the tables on Clarke.