Scottish FA chief executive Ian Maxwell is delighted with the way things are going for the national team as they look to take another step towards European Championship qualification.
Scotland tackle Norway in Oslo on a week on Saturday before welcoming Georgia to Hampden three days later.
Steve Clarke is trying to lead the dark blues to back-to-back Euros and started Group A with victories against Cyprus and Spain in March.
The Scotland boss extended his contract until 2026 in March and Maxwell says that was a good call.
He said: “The timing was good because we extended (his contract) just before the March games so I think it was a bit of a masterstroke by the board.
“We’re absolutely delighted, he’s done great. They’re over in Spain just now preparing for the games.
“We’re giving them as much support as we can to make sure they’re ready.
“We’ve given ourselves a great chance. We’ve got a good platform off the back of the last two results.
“Having a result like we had against Spain (2-0 win) at the start of a campaign is something we haven’t done for a while.
“We had a great result against Denmark (2-0 win in World Cup qualifying) but they had already qualified and it was later on in the campaign.
“Doing it at the front end of the campaign gives you a great chance and I get the sense from the manager that the players are aware of the opportunity they’ve got, particularly with two qualifying.
“But Norway have announced their squad and they’ve got good players in that squad. Georgia won’t be easy either, they’re a good side with top players in their midst.
“But so have we and I think in Norway and Georgia they’ll be having the same conversation ‘we’re playing Scotland and they had a great result against Spain so we know how difficult that will be.’
“I’m delighted with the way things are going.”
New president and new cup sponsor
Maxwell was speaking following the SFA’s AGM which saw Alloa’s Mike Mulraney succeed Rod Petrie and become the 54th president of association.
Les Gray of Hamilton Academical has been elected vice-president, while a new five-year sponsorship deal with Scottish Gas for the Scottish Cup and Scottish Women’s Cup was also announced.
Maxwell added: “We’re delighted, it’s a long-term sponsorship deal, blue chip company from a good sector.
“They’ve committed a significant six-figure sum a year across youth football and para-football.
“They’re not just seeing it as the title sponsorship for the Scottish Cup.
“They want to get involved and help us grow the game, they want to make the stadium more sustainable and want to engage clubs on that perspective as well.”
