Scotland boss Alex McLeish says they can go into World Cup qualification full of confidence after running Italy and France so close in their Euro2008 qualifying campaign.

"We live for these kind of games and it's unfortunate that we won't be at Austria and Switzerland but I think we gave some of the big teams a fright," he said.

"This group of players have got years ahead of them and they have to take great confidence and belief from what they have done.

"They are going to grow in stature, technical ability and mental toughness. We've got to go forward with positivity. It's human nature to be disappointed by this but not for too long.

"Let's keep moving forward because we have given the Scottish game a shot in the arm."