Steve Clarke is not buying into any notion that Scotland's 2026 World Cup fate is written positively in the stars as he prepares for the crunch qualifier against Denmark on Tuesday night.
The Scots have rode their luck at times in this Group C campaign and despite losing 3-2 away to Greece on Saturday night, the Danes' shock 2-2 draw at home to makeweights Belarus handed Scotland a lifeline for automatic qualification.
A win over Denmark at Hampden Park will see Clarke's men leapfrog their opponents to the top of the table and clinch Scotland a place at the World Cup finals for the first time since 1998.
However, Clarke insists his players will have to make their own history, albeit there is a play-off semifinal next March as insurance.
"There's definitely work to do," said the former Kilmarnock, Reading and West Brom boss, who confirmed Napoli midfielder Billy Gilmour has lost his race to be fit for the second match of the November double-header.
"We play the pot one team.
"They'll be hurting because they've missed an opportunity to win the group already.
"Always another game. People can speculate and think that other bodies are looking after us, we have to look after ourselves.
"Yeah, listen, we always thought that when the draw was made, that if we could get it down to the final game here at Hampden, that would be an achievement because we would then have had to finish above our seeding.
"We have done that. We were drawn as a pot three team, but already in second place.
"We want to go one step further and finish the top of the group."
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Clarke expects the best version of the Danish side, despite their improbable setback at the weekend, where they could have secured their place at the finals with a win.
The former Scotland international said: "I'm expecting their heads won't be down, because they also still have the opportunity to go through as group winners.
"So, they'll come here determined to make amends for the slip up the other night and we're determined to make sure that it's another difficult night for the Danes and a great night for us.
"The crowd are always important here. I touched on it briefly after the game in Greece.
"We need the crowd with us. We need them.
"You probably need the crowd more in the difficult moments than you do in the easy moments when you're on top of the game.
"So I think if we all work together, we can make it a great night for the country.
"I'm pretty calm, considering on the magnitude of the game and the occasion.
"I trust my players. I always trust my players. We've recovered well from the trip to Greece.
"The lads seem to be in pretty good spirits, because they know what's in front of them and like I said before, this was always the scenario that we had in our head that this could be the chance -- a home game against Denmark -- to qualify for a World Cup.
"So everyone's in a good place."