Scotland may well be on a roll under Clarke, but they have not faced a side as strong as Spain for a long while. Indeed, the last time Hampden welcomed a comparatively fearsome outfit was in Euro 2020, when Croatia escaped with a competitive but deserved 2-1 victory thanks to Luka Modric.

Meetings between these two nations have been infrequent in recent years, so there is no head-to-head record of note. The last meetings were more than a decade ago in Euro 2012 qualifying, which saw Spain win 3-2 at Hampden before claiming a 3-1 win at home. La Roja have won the last three competitive matches between these nations.

The Scots may have improved under Clarke but they have not yet achieved a milestone victory against opponents of this calibre. Sure, there was an excellent World Cup qualifying win over Denmark, but the Danes were depleted on that occasion, while Scotland have yet to show they have overcome their tendency to wilt in the face of superior opponents at home. Clarke will expect this to be more competitive than the 4-0 loss to Belgium in the previous European qualifying campaign, but it would be a major upset if Scotland took anything from the game.

John McGinn is involved in everything Scotland do. He is the player who is most liable to provide a goal threat for Clarke’s men and he will be asked to be a nuisance in a supporting role to striker Lydon Dykes. He will probably be used in a more advanced position than Aston Villa fans are used to seeing him in, with the 28-year-old set to be deployed almost as a second striker designed to cause havoc.

One feature of McGinn’s game that Scotland will seek to take advantage of is his energy and industry out of possession. The former Hibs midfielder has boundless enthusiasm and energy, particularly when playing with the national team. This puts him in a position to regularly commit fouls. In his last couple of home matches for Scotland, for example, he committed three fouls against Cyprus and four against Ireland. Indeed, he has committed at least two infractions in each of his last five international home matches.

Swiss referee Sandro Scharer has been tasked with officiating this match, with the 34-year-old a relative rookie when it comes to top level international football. Indeed, this will be his 13th competitive international match. In his previous 12, he has shown 55 yellow cards, averaging close to five per game.

Scotland, meanwhile, do tend to pick up cautions. In their recent Nations League Group B matches, they earned at least two cautions in four of their last five games, plus they also had another couple of bookings at the weekend against Cyprus. These were matches in which they tended to do well, so forced to defend more often versus a technical side like Spain, this number may well be higher.

Combine this with what is forecast to be a wet Glasgow evening, making underfoot conditions hazardous and slide tackling all the more perilous, and there is a recipe for cautions.