Group B France v Scotland:Barry Ferguson's horrified look suggested Paul Le Guen had just been reappointed manager of Rangers, but it was a less incendiary device that provoked incredulity in the Scotland captain yesterday. Asked whether it was now or never for the aspiration of leading his nation into a major tournament, the midfielder eventually responded with a touch of hurt and humour.

"I'm only 29 you know, my career is not over yet," he said.

But Ferguson's reaction does not disguise the truth.

Scotland are close, but it is a formidable task that confronts Alex McLeish's squad as they strive for a place at Euro 2008 and a qualification now commonly referred to as "the greatest achievement ever".

A measure of the task ahead arrives in Paris tonight, where the Group B leaders France are intent on soothing wounded pride against a Scotland side who defeated them at Hampden last October and now sit proudly, if nervously, in second place above Italy and Ukraine.

There may be many international invitations to come for a Scotland squad with the youngest average age in its section, and Ferguson may well be there when they arrive, but a man who will be 30 when next summer's European Championship commences cannot take such opportunities for granted.

"No one gave us a chance when the draw was made and I even thought to myself, 'Oh no, here we go again'," he said.

"But fair play to the lads, we've done so well to get even to this stage and now we are here we don't want to let it slip away. We are close to our greatest achievement ever and that is pushing us on.

"This is the closest I've ever come to reaching a major championship. We are close and yet still so far away. I'd love to get the right result in Paris but let's not be kidded, it's going to be extremely difficult - it is a huge task."

Ferguson returns from a one-match suspension to regain the captaincy against Raymond Domenech's team and will be essential to the success of the strategy McLeish has envisaged for the Parc des Princes.

The Scotland manager is intent on adopting a risk-free approach, one implemented by security at Glasgow airport yesterday when they asked the entire squad to disembark their flight and identify their luggage following a computer malfunction at check-in, although a five-man midfield will not only be under instruction to provide protection to its defence.

"We need players who can comfortably take the ball up the field. We don't want to be camped on our own 18-yard box all night," said McLeish, whose insistence on a lone striker with the guile and cunning to "run into any spaces we may create" could promote Garry O'Connor over the more prolific Kris Boyd.

"We didn't lump it up the pitch in Italy, so it is unlikely that we will do that in Paris. We will need a bit of luck and we'll need to defend well."

A fixation with the Rugby World Cup meant tickets were still available yesterday, and it is not beyond the realms of possibility that half the crowd may be clad in tartan. Further pressure on France, McLeish hopes, will stem from their own prioritising of this fixture above Saturday's 0-0 draw in Italy, when Thierry Henry collected the booking that suspends him from tonight's game.

With Group B so delicately poised the prospect remains of qualification being decided on head-to-head results and, having tasted defeat at Hampden, Domenech's team would not relish travelling to Ukraine for their final fixture knowing victory is a prerequisite.

Not that Scotland are getting ahead of themselves in a city where their last visit produced a demoralising 5-0 defeat in Berti Vogts' first game in charge.

"They've already said that they need to win this game. The pressure is on them for the same reason that it was on us at the weekend. We were expected to win against Lithuania and the French are expected to win now, so there is more pressure on them than on us."

Domenech has offered Scotland his belated congratulations for their win at Hampden.

Scotland's surprise win seemed to leave Domenech rattled. He made particular reference to the speed at which the home ball-boys returned the ball to the field of play. The Scottish FA were warned by Uefa over the incident.

Domenech is no stranger to controversy, but he was keen to emphasise he had not criticised McLeish's team.

He said: "I never said Scotland do not play well. They are a clever team. The Scots are dangerous, they played well - very well - but I was just surprised by the way they played last year against France.

"I would like to say congratulations for the last match. They did what they had to do to beat us last year.

"I do not understand who said I thought Scotland a bad team."

Guardian Service