'This is the best Scotland team I've played in. Now we need to prove it by qualifying for something'

THERE'S no such thing as a comfort zone where the footballing elite are concerned.

Minutes after winning the Champions League title the Manchester United management and players were in their dressing room in the Luzhniki Stadium, in Moscow. "We were saying, 'yeah, we've won it, enjoy it, but…' No-one has ever defended the Champions League and we're looking to do that," says Darren Fletcher, who may have been an unused sub that night, but shares the philosophy. "That's the way we have to think. The general consensus already is to look ahead to next season – you can look back when you've finished your career. It has to be like that at that level. If you rest on your laurels at Manchester United, you'll stand still."

Stagnating is something Scotland could have been accused of until a few years ago. Worse than a comfort zone, it was an uncomfortable one. Now, when Fletcher joins up with the rest of the national squad, he is encouraged to see the same kind of desire to progress and improve that forms the fabric of the success at Old Trafford. He is hoping it can help the national side reap similar memories worth treasuring.

So close to qualifying for the European Championships, which start this week without Scotland, the determination to make it to the World Cup in 2010 is now even more evident. And after debuting in a side which was threadbare and lacked direction or steel under Berti Vogts, the 24-year-old says the squad has now evolved to such an extent, in terms of both tactics and personnel, that current boss George Burley now has an embarrassment of riches by comparison. "This is my fourth manager and it is my fourth campaign coming up and I think we are probably now as good as we have been to kick on. We keep progressing. We got ourselves in a better pot for the seedings. I'm not sure if you can call it an easy group but it's not Italy, France and Ukraine, is it? But people will now expect a bit more from us and that's the next step for us, dealing with the expectation."

A player who has long-since been burdened by a nation's high hopes due to his progress through the ranks with one of Europe's elite club sides and the glowing testimonies from his club gaffer, Sir Alex Ferguson, the beauty is that there are now others in the Scotland side able to alleviate some of the strain. Provided they can all stay fit at the same time. "We've not achieved anything yet but we're making progress. It's getting harder because it's easier to be resilient and hard to beat and organised, the difficult part is taking it on and actually having possession and dominating teams.

"We'll have games at Hampden against the likes of Macedonia where we're now expected to win but they're not easy games. That's the next challenge."

No resting on laurels or basking in memories of French stars foiled. The focus is already on the World Cup qualifying campaign. That was the reason they played the Czech Republic in baking early evening temperatures in Prague on Friday night. For a so-called meaningless end-of-season friendly, it was a match which served a purpose. Fletcher claimed the first half conditions were the hottest he had ever played in, but it was, quite literally, a warm up for the opening World Cup qualifier, away to Macedonia in September, when afternoon temperatures could soar well above Friday's 28 degrees. It was also a chance to tinker with the system and give debuts to others following the lengthy number of call-offs. "You have to try some new things and I'm sure it might be different again against Northern Ireland. But we had a good team tonight and people did themselves a lot of good," added Fletcher.

"James Morrison for example, I thought did really well in the first half especially. He went past people, he was positive, won corners. Then Davie (Clarkson] came on and scored a great goal, while Ross (McCormack] has shown unbelievable technique and finishing in training as well. The manager is going to have a tough job when everyone is fit – picking who starts – but that's good for Scotland. Look at the competition for places in the midfield, for example. We're going places and it compares favourably to when I first came in."

Burley has not yet had the advantage of getting the very best players together at once, due to injury call-offs, but while personnel and systems could yet vary, he does seem to have a football philosophy he wants his players to adhere to. "I played against his Ipswich team for Everton," says Gary Naysmith, "and I remember the philosophy was that if the opposition score two, we'll score three. Obviously you have to be a bit tighter at international level but it's still the same because he loves us to go forward and loves us to score goals. The gaffer instils in us to keep the ball. He loves it on the deck. Training starts with three-touch, then two-touch then he wants it one-touch. He wants you to be comfortable on the ball, he wants you to make the forward pass when the time is right but if it's not then keep the ball until it is right. I think we can play like that and do well if we can combine it with our real strengths – the fighting spirit and stamina."

The positive approach and intention to see the side evolve and build on the foundation set down by his predecessors is evident and it has impressed the likes of Fletcher, who has grown used to the mentality during his own Manchester United education. "He's speaking about taking us to that next level. He spoke about it being good to be hard to beat, but about there being more."

The midfielder knows there was a time when it seemed the national team was going backwards but now, while it may still be small steps, at least they are taking the country in the right direction. All the way to South Africa, he hopes.