Berra: Scotland duty is now filled with excitement rather than dread
Scotland defender Christophe Berra admits some players used to "dread" international duty.
But the feeling in Gordon Strachan's squad has been far different this week ahead of their deciding World Cup Group F qualifiers.
Scotland know they will take second spot and a potential play-off place if they beat Slovakia at Hampden on Thursday and Slovenia in Ljubljana on Sunday.
The Scots have turned their campaign around with 10 points from four matches and Berra aims to continue the momentum.
"Training has been good and the boys are coming from clubs full of confidence," the Hearts captain said.
"I think people nowadays like coming away and working under the manager and playing for their national team, whereas maybe years back people dreaded it a little bit sometimes.
"There is a lot more optimism around the country and it's in our hands to hopefully keep that positive vibe going. The only way we can do that is by winning."
Scotland's campaign was floundering a year ago after they followed a home draw with Lithuania with a 3-0 loss to Slovakia in Trnava.
"That game was a strange game, they were ruthless at the business end of the pitch," Berra said.
"Hopefully we can learn from that, I'm sure the management have learned from it. We are looking forward.
"We've come off two good victories, a good point against England, which really should have been three points.
"We have improved since then, there have been a lot of changes as well.
"I say we have improved, but really we can only tell when the final whistle goes how much improvement there has been.
"You have got to be humble and don't get too carried away when things are going well, and when things are not going well, don't get too down."
Berra did not feature in the opening three matches but has now played four times in the campaign and scored the opener against Malta last month.
The 32-year-old is one of several players drafted in as Strachan looked for a winning formula.
Leigh Griffiths is another, with the Celtic striker netting three times in as many games. Strachan commented last week that Griffiths looked a different person to the player he handed his competitive international debut - but Berra feels his former Wolves team-mate just gets on with scoring goals.
"He is confident, he is scoring goals for fun," Berra said. "He has always been able to score goals. He is playing for a team that is doing really well at Celtic and is full of confidence.
"He is dangerous, he is always on your shoulder and wants to get in behind you, and as a defender that's the thing that you least like to do, you don't want to defend balls in the channels or balls over your shoulder.
"To be honest, he is very quiet around the place. He doesn't really say much, he just gets on with his job. I don't know him too well personally.