It was great to be involved in a game we won by such a margin

THE last time I played the Faroes, the whole experience left a bad taste in my mouth. People know what happened after we drew 2-2 over there at the start of the previous European Championship qualifying campaign and it's old ground I really don't want to go back over. What happened back then didn't make yesterday's 6-0 victory any the more pleasing because it wouldn't have mattered who we were playing, winning any game by that margin, especially at international level, is something to be proud of.

But having quit playing for Scotland after that game in Toftir, I couldn't have imagined I would be on the brink of earning my 50th cap and entering the Hall of Fame. But, to be honest, I don't think any player ever imagines that because when it comes to international honours, you can never look too far ahead.

I'm not taking anything for granted and although it would be brilliant to captain Scotland in Lithuania and win my 50th cap, I'm not making any assumptions. If that does happen then it really would be special but there won't be extra family or friends there to witness it and I won't be treating it any differently than any other match I have had the privilege of playing for Scotland. These landmark occasions are the sort of thing you look back on when you have finished playing, you don't dwell on them at the time. Well, I don't.

Looking back over the 49 caps I have got, and to be honest I don't really do that much, there have been some really special memories. I have been on the pitch with some wonderful players and some of them I wish I had got a bit closer to. But it is always an honour. I have been lucky enough to play teams like Holland and Germany, and been to major tournaments like the World Cup but every time you play for your country you realise what a big deal it is so no one games stands out. To be honest, there have also been more than a few games and results I have tried to forget.

Thankfully, yesterday's match won't find a place in that category. Although there were times in the game when our defenders were nothing but interested observers, it was great to be involved in a game where we won by such a margin. It doesn't happen that often at international level and it was a good confidence boost for us all. Everyone knows we have a really difficult group and the task of qualifying is an onerous one but we will be giving it our best shot.

We got off to the best possible start. Getting the goals so early in the game helped settle everybody and it was great from the team perspective that they were spread about throughout the team and that so many different guys made it on to the team sheet. We all knew Georgia had got off to a flyer by scoring so many goals against the Faroes but now we have equalled that and it is up to the rest to match it.

But having done so well at Celtic Park, we have to get focused again for the rest of the games. The next task is Lithuania and they will be a different proposition and I'm sure, if selected, then I will be busier there then I was yesterday. But that's all part of being involved in a team game. Everybody has a job and the manager had already succeeded it returning the spirit and in making sure we are a much more organised team again these days. Before the Faroes match we had already proved that we are once again a hard team to beat but the six goals yesterday and the way we approached the match now underline that we want more than that, we want to a be a hard team not to lose to.

This campaign will be a challenge for us all but one of the perks of playing so many games is that you take it one game at a time; you don't get carried away by the victories - even ones where we win 6-0 - and you don't become too brow-beaten by the defeats or the near misses.

Things have come on since my previous game against the Faroes, but because there is still so much happening in my career and so much to play for, including, hopefully, my 50th cap, then there's really no point looking back. There's too much to enjoy and focus on in the present.

DAVID WEIR

Taken from the Scotsman