SCOTLAND will reach the halfway point when they meet Italy in Bari tomorrow night and close inspection of the group reveals good reason for Alex McLeish's side to feel cautiously confident about qualifying for Euro 2008.

If - and it's a big if - they were to snatch a point from the Italians tomorrow night, it would be a significant step towards making it to a major international tournament for the first time in a decade.

The achievement is all the more impressive given the group of death' mutterings that were clearly heard when the draw for the qualifiers was made, with Scotland up against the formidable weight of France, Ukraine and Italy.

Few would have dared to imagine that the dream of qualifying and looking out the passports for a trip to Austria and Switzerland next summer would still be a viable prospect at this stage of the group.

It does, of course, remain an ambitious dream, but if Scotland can maintain their early form it could soon be time for the calculators to come out, as McLeish admitted on Saturday night. "People say get to around 18 points then you're close to qualification' but we will target 24," he said.

It might have seemed like a mammoth ask a few months back. Now, however, with three home games - against Lithuania, Ukraine and Italy - there is a sense that maybe, just maybe, it could be possible.

With games against the Faroe Islands, France and Georgia coming on the road, even the taking of a point from any of these matches, would keep the flame of hope flickering for a while longer at least.