WHATEVER the result of FIFA's deliberations today on Scotland's abortive trip to Estonia last month, it is unlikely to have a telling influence on the prospects of Craig Brown's team reaching the World Cup finals.

Sweden, who visit Ibrox on Sunday, and Austria, with whom the Scots have already drawn in Vienna and who themselves won in Stockholm four weeks ago, are surely more formidable obstacles - on the road to France than the emerging Baltic republic.

He is entitled to be more focused on the Swedes, as Sunday's match provides Scotland with an exceptional opportunity to impose themselves on Group Four. There is already a new energy about the manager and his players, as they find themselves, unusually, in a qualifying section in which no giant has to be slain.