Scotland boss George Burley is convinced that victory in their World Cup qualifier against Norway will mark the start of their bid to secure a play-off place.

Burley's troops – who currently lie second in the table behind run-away winners Netherlands – face Norway in Oslo on Wednesday knowing that three points would significantly boost their bid to reach South Africa.

Scotland also have to contend with two home games against Macedonia and Netherlands but Burley knows that first they must overcome a tough game against bottom of the table Norway.

“We need a couple of wins to get us to the play-offs,” he said. “We face a difficult away game in Norway and then two home games.

“We're second at the moment and before we started the campaign I think we would've taken that."

“If we get a win in Oslo it would cement our position in second place and knock Norway out of the running.

“But Norway's going to be a hard game so if we can get the right result it would be tremendous.”