Scotland manager George Burley says his team are united in their quest to make a positive start to World Cup qualification in their match against Macedonia.
The Scots travel to Skopje for their opening Group Nine match on Saturday with several key players missing due to injury.
Burley was already missing captain Barry Ferguson and Alan Hutton with long-term injuries.
But over the past few days Garry O Connor, David Weir, David Marshall, Callum Davidson, Kevin McNaughton and Kevin Thomson have also all pulled out with a variety of ailments.
The manager has drafted in Rangers defender Kirk Broadfoot, Hearts midfielder Michael Stewart and Aberdeen goalkeeper Jamie Langfield to replenish the squad, which is placed 16th in the latest world rankings one place behind England.
However, Burley is confident that his team can claim their first win with him at the helm and get the Scots off to a flyer in their quest to qualify for their first tournament since 1998.
He said: The first game of a tournament is never easy but it s where you finish that counts. We ll be going there to certainly try and get a good start.
You re going to get injuries that s something you ve got to accept. You need a bit of luck.
We ve not had much luck with injuries so far but that doesn t mean it s going to have an effect on our performance. We are aware it s going to be very difficult but we ll certainly be focussed and very positive and try and get a result.
Our tactics would be the same no matter the squad. The personnel might be a little bit different, with some key players missing, but as far as our manner and style of play, that won t change at all.
Burley said his team would have to be at their best to beat Macedonia, who held England to a goalless draw at Old Trafford and beat Croatia in their Euro 2008 qualifying campaign.
He added: We re looking for a solid start. Macedonia are at home and will be looking for the three points.
They re going to try and take the game to us but we ve got to be solid, hard to beat, composed, play to our strengths and try and give them problems.
It s going to be a good test. We re certainly going there to be nice and positive but we know it s going to be difficult.
We know exactly how Macedonia are going to play. They ve got a structure they haven t changed in two or three years. We ve got to be wary of them as they have some clever players.
They ve got experienced players that have played that system for a long time so we re aware of their strengths and that s something we ve looked at.
But this game has to be about what we do not what they do. If we don t defend well or don t give them problems, we won t win.
For us it is all about reaching the World Cup. You need a little bit of luck along the way and we need to perform at our maximum.
Macedonia midfielder Veliche Sumulikoski, who plays in England at Ipswich Town, one of Burley s former clubs, is looking for a confidence-boosting win ahead of facing the Netherlands on Wednesday.
We are in a very tough group, we know that, but the first two games are key for us, said Sumulikoski.
If we can get some points from Scotland and Holland at home, it will give us a chance of achieving something in the group.
