Scotland v Belgium: Gordon Strachan upbeat on progress made in 2014 World Cup campaign That's the way it goes in football. In any sport when you are performing better you feel better about yourself. I am sure there is a bit more pride about the squad. People saying "I'm playing with the Scotland team at the moment and I'm quite happy to be here." But you can't tell what is going to happen. The game is crazy and something might happen that could spoil a great performance or there could be a lack of concentration, which it was against England. We were a wee bit annoyed at ourselves for that lack of concentration, that's for sure, but I don't see that it's all doom and gloom if we don't get a result or performance and I don't think we should get on a real high if we get a good result. We know that Belgium are capable of beating us if we are not at our best but we also know that we can beat Belgium. Strachan regularly stresses that he watches players carefully at training and is prepared to shred premeditated plans if he sees a player performing exceptionally during the squad sessions. Asked if he had witnessed any such event this week, the manager said: "Yes I have, aye. I have seen things that I like. People's performances come to the fore. You probably have nine positions sorted unless something strange happens and you can think "he's looking bright." Some might come with baggage after a bad performance, some could have scored a couple of goals and are feeling good about themselves. Some are in a team doing well, so it can change from game to game, how they feel about themselves. One player who is plainly not enchanted about his club environment is Alan Hutton, who is not part of the 25-man squad submitted by Aston Villa to the Premier League, not that his absence is a surprise, given that the defender has not figured in Paul Lambert's plans for more than a year. Loan deals which took him to Nottingham Forest and Real Mallorca have filled the void for Hutton, but the chance of a transfer to Mallorca this summer foundered on the fee wanted by Villa and also on the player's personal demands. The 28-year-old, though, is irked that other possibilities have not come to fruition. It is very frustrating. On transfer deadline day I was bouncing off the walls," said Hutton. To have options to go to different teams and they can't - or are not willing - to agree terms is very annoying, put it that way.