It would be just so very

GREAT things don’t always happen by design, but sometimes by accident.

Should Scotland make it through to the 2018 World Cup Finals in Russia, there will be few fans who care to dwell too deeply on the early travails of this Group F qualifying campaign.

Memories of an abject performance in Slovakia, plus an oh- so frustrating draw against Lithuania at Hampden, are being soothed away by the country’s marked improvement of late.

There was so much to like about Friday’s vibrant performance in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius.

So much that spoke to the emergence of a young, vigorous, developing side, capable of punching its weight in the international game.

And that, as much as our continued stake in the qualifying numbers game the 3- 0 victory delivered, was the pleasing thing.

When the dust had settled yesterday morning, the first bookmaker to react slashed Scotland’s odds of qualifying from 20-1 down to 8/1.

That’s a significant cut and the price is likely to shrink still further should, as expected, the Dark Blues follow up by beating Malta tomorrow and England see off Slovakia at Wembley at the same time.

It still rates us as having a one in nine chance of ending an absence from a major tournament, stretching all the way back to 1998.

Which, given the potential strength of