More than an hour after Saturday's encounter had reached its dramatic denouement, Alex Salmond could be found on the front steps of Hampden Park offering his thoughts to the dwindling ranks of Tartan Army footsoldiers loitering joyously outside the stadium.

It would be uncharitable to accuse the Scottish National Party leader of exploiting the slender triumph over Georgia for electioneering purposes. But the sense of optimism that exploded from the arena - soundtracked by the boisterous, post-match medley of Status Quo, The Fratellis and The Proclaimers - and was transfused into the veins of the country along the roads and railways on Saturday evening, spoke of a nation that has finally discovered its voice. The political landscape could well be about to metamorphose but so too is the national team.

First, though, the caveat - qualification for Euro 2008 remains more possibility than probability. France, Ukraine and, to a marginally lesser extent, Italy are keeping Alex McLeish's side honest, refusing to spill valuable points in potentially perilous away engagements. Any reward from Wednesday's trip to Bari, followed by the maximum yield from the Faroe Islands away and Lithuania in Glasgow, will lend the fraught final four fixtures - visits to France and Georgia as well as Ukraine and, finally, the Italians at Hampden - an import rarely experienced by the current generation.

However, the growing sense of renewal around the Scotland team in recent months suggests that this group is equipped with the requisite winning mentality. For uncomfortably prolonged spells on Saturday, the sight of the side struggling to muster the guile to puncture opponents perceived to be of a lesser standard was all too familiar. Spearing high, hopeful balls towards isolated strikers was borne of a creeping desperation, the importance of a win not lost on the players. The script normally dictates the acceptance of a point along with a raft of what ifs, but not this time.

Instead, resilience and an appetite for victory came to the fore which, given the composition of the starting XI, should have been expected. Old Firm representation in Scotland sides has been scant of late, yet on Saturday McLeish selected a team with two spines - one Celtic and one Rangers - and the benefits became apparent. Stephen McManus, Paul Hartley and Kenny Miller infused the winning mentality renowned of the Parkhead club, while Ibrox representatives David Weir, Barry Ferguson and Kris Boyd alongside them added plenty of fortitude.

But more striking and, indeed, encouraging, was the players that finished the match boasted an average age of just over 27 - young for an international select and practically pubescent for Scotland. What may be lost in experience is compensated for by the enthusiasm, attitude and lack of fear prevalent among the less gnarled. Listening to some of them talk about the victory and the prospect of travelling to Italy, it was refreshing to note both a hint of disappointment about what had gone before and defiance regarding what lay ahead.

Some, like Miller and Craig Gordon, have won caps on Italian soil before but neither are concerned by the prospect of playing the world cham-pions. "Sure it's an away game but we have to go across there and look to get something," said the Hearts goalkeeper.

"I played there last time and it was a great occasion that put me in good stead for the years to come. We now go back over there with nothing to fear, we played well that night and if we can put a performance like that on again, we can get something."

Miller, who scored against the Italians at Hampden last year, did, though, caution the need for nous. "We lost there last time to two great free-kicks and that is something we need to maybe be more streetwise about," said the striker. "The boys in our squad scrap away for things and try and stay on their feet in situations but sometimes we have to try and be clever and get free-kicks at times like Georgia were doing today."

Tellingly, the theme from the Scotland players is that respect for Italy does not extend to fear. "It's going to be hard but it's 11 guys v 11 at the end of the day," was Boyd's view and, while perhaps a platitude, the look in his eyes suggested he believed it.

This team is growing in confidence in step with the nation, and while the scar on the collective psyche caused by Ally's Army acts as a cautionary tale, this new generation - many too young to recall the similarities in circumstance - seem determined to return Scotland to a position of prominence.