Defender Russell Martin has suggested that he and his Scotland teammates "deserve" to qualify for Euro 2016, remarking that reaching it would be "pretty special".

The Scots have failed to qualify for a major competition since the World Cup in 1998, but manager Gordon Strachan has restored the feel-good factor as they bid to end that 18-year wait in France next summer.

Third in Group D behind leaders Poland and second-placed Germany, Strachan's side face Georgia away on Friday knowing that victory is essential in order to preserve their automatic qualification hopes.

"Scotland deserve to be at the finals," Martin, who is expected to start in defence in Tbilisi, told The Guardian. "We certainly wouldn't show ourselves up.

"With the fans and everyone else feeling good about us at the moment, we deserve to be there and we have got ourselves in a great position to do that.

"Whenever we go abroad, you see how much it means to our fans. In my opinion, we will add to a tournament with what we have in our squad now. With the whole country behind us, it would be pretty special."

Scotland welcome world champions Germany - who sit two points ahead of Strachan's side, and one behind Poland - to Hampden Park on Monday night.