SCOTLAND will end their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign with a meaningless fixture against Gibraltar in the Estadio Algarve this evening.

The national team’s hopes of progressing to the European Championship finals in France next summer ended against Poland on Thursday night.

The 2-2 draw Gordon Strachan’s side slumped to against Adam Nawalka’s team meant they could no longer clinch third place in Group D and a play-off spot.

But Strachan and his players will be determined to bow out on a high with a decent display and an emphatic victory over their sections minnows.

Here, chief football writer Matthew Lindsay assesses how Scotland will approach their tenth and final match in Portugal.

PIVOTAL PLAYERS

Gordon Strachan is missing several men for this match through injury. Charlie Mulgrew (thigh), Leigh Griffiths (calf) Jordan Rhodes (medial ligament) and James Morrison (ankle). James McArthur, too, has returned home because his wife is due to give birth.

But Strachan is set to radically change his starting line-up and give players who have, despite dutifully turning up for every squad gathering and qualifier, not featured extensively or, in some cases, at all. There are likely to be changes in goals, in defence, in midfield and in attack.

Both Craig Gordon and Allan McGregor will be hoping to get a nod to start in goals ahead of regular keeper David Marshall. At the back, Christophe Berra and Gordon Greer (both centre half) and Andy Robertson (left back) may be drafted in. There could, too, be a first cap for Graeme Shinnie of Aberdeen.

In midfield, Darren Fletcher, who started the game against Poland at Hampden on Thursday evening, could play again. The West Brom man has found it difficult to get into the national side due to the fine form of Scott Brown, Charlie Mulgrew, James Morrison and even McArthur since regaining fitness and returning to action. He will welcome the game time.

Johnny Russell of Derby County will be hoping to get involved either from the start or as a substitute. Up front, Russell’s club mate Chris Martin should feature too.

But the national manager may choose to give several of his regular starters extensive game time in an attempt to boost their confidence and raise their spirits after the deep disappointment of Thursday night. Steven Fletcher, in particular, may get a run-out.

The Sunderland man has taken a bit of a battering from the media and from many members of the Tartan Army of late. He went a long way towards silencing them with a solid display and stunning goal against Poland. But he will welcome the chance to add to his disappointing tally for his country.

He netted a hat-trick – the first scored by a Scottish player in 46 years – in a 6-1 win over Gibraltar at Hampden in March and will be keen to match or even better that.

TACTICAL BATTLE

This game against opponents who, with a population of just 30,000, are the smallest member of UEFA will not be a battle as such. It will, though, be interesting to see how Strachan sets his team up against Jeff Wood’s part-timers.

The 58-year-old, like many managers now, favours a 4-2-3-1 formation. But against Gibraltar back in March he changed that and played with just one centre half, Russell Martin. It was an experiment which did not go entirely to plan. They allowed Lee Casciaro to score the visitors first competitive goal ever in the first half.

But Strachan, who has revealed he will decide on his future next week, may look to try out a different set-up as well as giving some fringe players a run-out at the end of a long campaign. There isn’t another competitive fixture until next September when Scotland travel to Malta for their opening World Cup qualifier.

If Strachan decides to remain at the helm – and there are strong indications that he will – and lead our bid to reach Russia 2018 then he may want to use this game to trying things out.

KEY CLASH

How the Scotland forwards fare against the Gibraltar defence will be key to how the game goes. The home team will pack their backline and try to make it hard for the visitors to break them down. But it is, even for Scotland and even in an away fixture, inconceivable that Gibraltar, a territory with a smaller population than Kirkcaldy, will cause an upset.

There is set to be a sizeable contingent of Scotland supporters in the 30,000-capacity Estadio Algarve this evening and the chances are their heroes will give them plenty to cheer about. It will be a nice way to bring the curtain down on a campaign which promised so much before ending as it so often has in the last two decades – with agonising failure and disappointment.

SCORE PREDICTION

Gibraltar 0, Scotland 5.