SO here we go again. It’s a hardy quadrennial, this anticipation, this fear, this sickening nervousness in the stomach of every Scotland fan as the national team approaches its first match of a World Cup qualifying campaign.

In case you hadn’t noticed, and with all the transfer deadline day guff, Scotland’s first match in the qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup takes place at the Ta’Qali Stadium in Malta on Sunday.

It’s the start of 13 months that will see Gordon Strachan’s men play ten games, home and away against England, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania and Malta.

England will win the group and take the only automatic qualification spot. Their entire squad consists of Premier League players, while Scotland has just six such players with 19 from the Championship and eight from the Ladbrokes Scottish Premiership.

Our best hope is second and a place in the play-offs, so it is vital that Scotland gets a cracking start in Malta. Surely a doddle for our boys in blue against the team, ranked 125 places below us, you might think. If this column can do anything it is to sound a mighty word of warning.

Our very first match against Malta on the island in 1988 was a 1-1 draw. We have won all four matches since then, including two World Cup qualifiers in 1993 by an aggregate of 5-0. Scotland last played Malta in 1997, winning 3-2 in 1997 at Ta’ Qali in a friendly.

Since then, Maltese football has improved. In their last World Cup campaign they beat Armenia away, and only lost by the odd goal in three at home to Bulgaria and Denmark.

There’s indication in Malta’s recent form that Scotland must not take them lightly. They were drubbed by the Czech Republic 6-0 in May, but Austria could only beat them 2-1 in Klagenfurt, while Malta held Moldova to a 0-0 draw in Ta’ Qali in March.

Prior to that, Malta’s Euro 2016 campaign included two highly creditable performances against Italy who managed to beat them home and away but only by a single goal on each occasion, while they gained a 1-1 draw with Bulgaria.

Ask any Hearts fans about Maltese football and they will just shake their heads in despondency. Their Europa League tie with Birkirkara was supposed to be straightforward.

We all know what happened next, so the cry from Tynecastle is simple – absolutely no complacency and for goodness’ sake take your chances.

Get off to a flyer and we’re set up beautifully for an evening home match against Lithuania on 8 October before we go to Slovakia and Wembley for the crucial game against the Auld Enemy.

It’s vital that the Scottish XI is actually an all-round XIV as Strachan will have to use substitutes wisely in the likely heat and humidity on a less than perfect surface.

For what it’s worth here’s my idea of the team from the squad as it stands at the moment. I think Strachan will go 4-4-2 and rely on our midfield to do a lot of fetching and carrying as well as posing a goal threat, which is why I am mystified why Ross McCormack, a £12m signing by Aston Villa, is not in the squad.

Though he didn’t play at the weekend due to his impending move from Cardiff City, I think David Marshall will start in goal. The back four will be chosen from Alan Hutton, Christophe Berra, Grant Hanley, Gordon Greer, and Andrew Robertson with Kieran Tierney a likely sub – if only he or Robertson could play at right back…

Barry Bannan, Darren Fletcher – who must surely be captain again – Matt Ritchie and hopefully Robert Snodgrass if he’s recovered from injury would be a useful midfield with either £13m man Oliver Burke or James Forrest on call to make an impact off the bench.

Up front I think Strachan will wait to see if Leigh Griffiths is fully fit. If he is not, he will be rested as the Celtic man will be needed further down the line if he keeps up his scoring rate. Fully fit, he will play and should score.

Steven Fletcher has not scored this season but can come good for Scotland on occasion, and the same remark applies to Steven Naismith who is having a miserable time at Norwich but might just welcome the chance to show what he can do in dark blue instead of canary yellow.

Strachan will take a cautious approach to the fixture and he is absolutely right to do so. Anyone heading out to Malta thinking Scotland will saunter through can forget it – the Maltese will present a real test but if every Scottish player gives their all and remembers to play as a team, then we might just gain a victory that will put us on the road to Russia.

We need to be there. Scotland just cannot go 20 years without appearing at a major finals. Yet sometimes I think those of us alive in the 70s, 80s and 90s may never see ourselves at a World Cup or European Championship again. And that would be very, very sad.

Oh, and if any members of the Tartan Army are reading this and haven’t organised their transportation to the match, from bitter experience I would say club together and share and pre-book a taxi as the bus service to Ta’ Qali is very dodgy and the Maltese railways are hopeless for the simple fact that they don’t exist, and haven’t done since 1931.

Good luck to all involved, and let those who have prayers remember to use them on Sunday.